NPA spearheading Uganda Airlines revival

Apr 29, 2015

The NPA kick-starts a process that might see the revival of Uganda Airlines through a series of meetings with key stakeholders.


By Moses Walubiri

Close to 20 years since a Uganda Airlines passenger plane taxied off at Entebbe International Airport, National Planning Authority (NPA) has kick-started a process that might see its revival through a series of meetings with key stakeholders.


According to NPA deputy chairman, Dr. Abel Rwendeire, the Presidential Economic Commission/Council (PEC) has asked NPA to come up with a concept paper making a case for the defunct airline's revival. 

PEC is composed of leading figures in industrial sector, government (permanent secretaries) and heads of organizations like Uganda Revenue Authority and Uganda National Roads Authority.

Members of PEC normally sit to consider different issues affecting the country in order to formulate policies that usually inform the executive's decisions on key economic issues.

"We are preparing a paper on the national carrier," Rwendeire, without delving into the nitty-gritty of the dialogue, told lawmakers on the finance committee Tuesday. 

Led by state minister for finance, David Bahati, Rwendeire was part of a team of NPA technocrats meeting legislators to consider NPA's budget estimates for the next financial year.

However, a source privy to the ongoing dialogue told New Vision that the NPA report on the national carrier will be ready in the next two months after a series of meetings with stakeholders like Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and ministries of tourism and agriculture.

The meetings are being coordinated by NPA head of monitoring and evaluation, Moses Dhizaala.

Founded in May 1976 as a subsidiary of Uganda Development Corporation, Uganda Airlines took to the sky in 1977, replacing the services that had previously been rendered by the East African Airways.

But 24 years later (2001), government decided to fold the national carrier over its delicate financial situation after frantic efforts to keep it afloat through attracting investment from foreign carriers like British Airways and South African Airways came to naught. 

Liquidation of Uganda Airlines left Uganda and Burundi as the only regional countries without a national carrier, with Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda using their national carriers to foster economic growth through tourism.

In a meeting with lawmakers on the infrastructure committee last year, officials from CAA attributed the collapse of Uganda Airlines to weak demand and mismanagement in the 1990s.

CAA officials said a revived national carrier needs to be protected by robust legislation from political interference and be adequately capitalized to operate as a viable commercial entity.

The development comes at a time when government is planning to expend $400m (sh1.16 trillion) to expand/refurbish Entebbe airport and reopen disused regional aerodromes to boost tourism.


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