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The fleet was later to be reinforced with 2 widebody Airbus A330 Neos, and most recently an additional A320 leased from South Africa.
Looking back, the airline CEO, Mrs Jennifer Bamuturaki highlighted a number of milestones realised, including revenue growth whose contribution has been bumped from 5.7% in the first year to 90%.
She tagged this on the airlines’ enhanced cargo operations which grew from 1 tonne to 7000 tonnes
“This was after we got our AOC certification for our Airbus,” she revealed.
The passenger numbers have also grown tenfold from 50,000 to half a million.
Setbacks
The national carrier had hoped to fly in over 20 destinations by the end of its 3-year strategic plan but this was not to be, thanks to Covid 19 coupled with political conflicts in countries such as Sudan and DRC.
The airline also tried unsuccessfully to secure a slot in London Heathrow.
Read: Uganda Airlines secures London Gatwick slots after missing Heathrow
Looking ahead however, Bamuturaki says the airline will strive to keep up with the new international regulatory standards. Among others, it will integrate sustainable aviation fuel into its operations.
“The engines of the Airbus which we operate have the provision to use sustainable aviation fuel,” she said
"Even though we’ll be landing in Gatwick and not Heathrow, we plan to ensure that by the time we start operating these routes, we shall be ready."
Regional hub
Meanwhile, the airline is pushing the government to transform Entebbe Airport into a regional hub, utilising the hub and spoke model
In this model, a central airport (the "hub") serves as the main connection point for flights to and from various smaller airports (the "spokes").
Passengers from different cities (the spokes) travel to the central hub airport, where they can catch connecting flights to other destinations.
Uganda Airlines Chief Operations Officer Adedayo Olawuyi explained:
“We want to be able to connect passengers from Lusaka and Harare to London; from Abuja to Nairobi, Abuja to Jeddah to Mumbai.”
"The plan is to make Entebbe the next biggest hub in the region.”