The vice president Rtd Maj Jessica Alupo has sounded government commitment towards supporting Uganda’s air transport.
Alupo said Uganda Airlines was revived to improve air transport connectivity to and from Uganda to enhance the country’s competitiveness for faster economic transformation.
“Air connectivity has become central to our development agenda, and the national carrier is seen as an extension of national infrastructure,” she said.
Maj Alupo made these remarks While officially opening the 55th African Airlines Association Annual General Assembly (AFRAA) in Kampala on Monday this week.
“We are committed to investing in the flag carrier and to facilitate her expansion within Africa, while also providing those vita air bridges between the continent and the rest of the world,” she said.
The two days conference attracted 569 delegates from the aviation sector across the world.
Speaking at the event, the CEO of Uganda Airlines Ms Jennifer Bamuturaki called upon African airlines to open up and ease intra-connectivity.
“As a young Airline, we have been passionate advocates for small airlines. We cannot hope to achieve sustainable operations if we cannot see areas of synergy between established carriers and small start-ups.,” she said.
Small airlines, she added are are important because they contribute to the systems resilience by adding flexibility to the ecosystem.
“They fill critical gaps and, offering last mile operations that would be impractical for the industry majors,” she said.
In his remarks, the AFRAA Secretary General Mr Abderahmane Berthe said there is a projected growth in the sector only requiring member states to open up, and solve the challenges.
He quoted the latest statistics from IAT) which indicated that African Airlines carried 67 million passengers in 2022, posting a 55.8 percent growth compared to 2021.
“AFRAA estimates the revenue loss for 2022 at USD 3.5 billion, representing 20% of 2019 revenues. This will narrow down to USD 1 billion in 2023,” he said.
Safety, connectivity, air transport sustainability, he said are some of AFRAA’s 2024 commitments which will grow the sector.
“The commitment to these engagements demonstrates AFRAA’s proactive approach to ensuring a conducive environment for airlines’ operations across the African continent,” he said.
