Uganda Airlines Will Start Flying To Nigeria Next Month

Uganda Airlines is expanding its reach into West Africa with the launch of flights to Nigeria in December, according to Business Insider.

New connections

Speaking at the 18th Akwaaba Africa Travel and Tourism Market, airline chief executive Jenifer Bamuturaki confirmed that flights to Lagos will commence before the end of 2022, with further flights to Abuja launching in 2023. Firm dates and frequencies are yet to be announced.

“I am happy to tell you that we, the Uganda Airlines, will begin our flights to Nigeria for the first time in history in December 2022,” said Bamuturaki.

“This will be our first flight to West Africa; we will begin that and then begin to grow slowly. When we come to Nigeria, we will be working through recognized travel agents and tour operators.”

The flag carrier currently offers 11 routes out of its hub in Entebbe, covering an array of destinations across Africa and the Middle East. The thrice-weekly flights to London Heathrow Airport have yet to be given the green light despite significant demand, with no potential launch dates announced. Its planned Guangzhou service also appears to be shelved amid ongoing COVID-19 restrictions within the country.

Uganda Airlines has been approached for further information.

During her keynote speech, Bamuturaki confirmed that the carrier was facing issues following increased aviation fuel prices. She added that the airline has managed the situation through the increase in sales of holiday packages and had no plans to increase airfares.

Women in aviation

This week’s event also saw Bamuturaki become a recipient of the 100 African Women in Travel and Tourism Award, celebrating diversity within the industry. Bamuturaki commended the conference convenor Ikechi Uko for the recognition, choosing to dedicate her award to Africa, young people interested in aviation, and Ugandan women for “pushing forward and striving against all odds.”

“I feel so honoured because we are not many women in leadership in the aviation industry. So, to be recognised is a good thing. This is a win for women,” she added.

Officially taking the reins of Uganda Airlines back in July, Bamuturaki took over from Cornwell Muleya, who was fired from the role in February pending investigation for mismanagement of public funds and irregular hiring practices.

Bamuturaki was tasked with revamping the airline, taking on a significant loss margin of UGX 232 billion ($61 million) in 2021. She has notably pushed for its continued growth and network expansion into Asia and Europe.

In August, Bamuturaki faced a parliamentary committee regarding concerns over her suitability for the role due to a lack of postgraduate training. She subsequently disputed the claims, noting that she had been appointed as CEO directly, with her team having a combined 100 years of work experience.

Source: Simple Flying

SAA expands regional operations, aims to return long-haul flights in Q1 2023

South African Airways (SAA) has announced plans to expand its regional network across Southern Africa, with additional routes to be revealed “in the coming weeks”. The carrier also announced that it aims to relaunch its intercontinental operations during the first quarter of 2023. 

In a statement published on the airline’s website, SAA confirmed plans to introduce “flights to Blantyre and Lilongwe in Malawi, Windhoek in Namibia, and Victoria Falls, in Zimbabwe before the start of the festive season”. 

SAA will increase frequencies on its current domestic and regional networks, as part of its second phase of post-COVID restart operations, which commenced 13 months ago. This includes “increased frequencies to Accra in Ghana, Cape Town, Durban, Harare in Zimbabwe, Lusaka in Zambia, Mauritius and Kinshasa in the DRC,” the airline said.  

The airline is also preparing to restart international operations by launching its first post-COVID intercontinental route during the first quarter of 2023.  

SAA currently operates seven Airbus aircraft, including two A320s, three A319s, one A330-300 and one A340-300. The airline will add an additional three A320 narrowbodies and will exit its A319 fleet in 2023.  

South African Airways retains traffic rights to its historic routes  

Meanwhile, the International Air Services Council (IASC) has ruled that the flag carrier be allowed to retain its traffic rights to all of its historical routes.  

The IASC is part of South Africa’s Department of Transport, and is mandated under the International Air Services Licensing Act, which regulates and controls international air services in the country.  

In September 2022, the IASC cancelled SAA’s flight frequencies on some routes due to inactivity for a period of more than three months, according to News24.    

The IASC cancelled SAA’s additional frequencies to Harare, Kinshasha, Mauritius, Lagos, Accra, Lusaka, and Luanda, Nairobi, Lilongwe, Blantyre, Victoria Falls, Windhoek, Entebbe, Livingstone.  

However, the regulatory body did not cancel the flag carrier’s routes to Dar es Salaam, Abuja, Maputo, Abidjan, Washington DC, New York, Frankfurt, Perth, London, and Sao Paulo, even though the airline had not been operating them.  

South African Airways entered business rescue on December 6, 2019, existing on April 30, 2021, having cut 80% of its workforce and slashing its fleet size by about 75%. The carrier restarted commercial operations on a much smaller scale in September 2021, with plans to grow both its fleet and route network.   

“As we increase fleet size to match the needs of the growing network schedule, we are encouraged that our strategy to cautiously re-enter markets abandoned due to the Covid pandemic has served us very well during the past twelve month, and we will continue to follow that cautious risk-adjusted trajectory,” SAA Chief Commercial Officer Tebogo Tsimane said in a statement on October 12, 2022. 

Source: Aerotime Hub

Dubai: Traffic system slashes travel time on roads by 20%

235 surveillance cameras, 112 dynamic message signs help beat congestion on highways

Dubai’s ‘Intelligent Traffic System’ (ITS) has helped cut travel time on key highways and roads by about 20 per cent. The project has improved incident monitoring by 63 per cent and helped reduce emergency response time by 30 per cent.

According to the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), these were made possible thanks to dynamic overhead message signs on roads and linking the authority’s Enterprise Command and Control Centre with the Dubai Police’s Command and Control Centre.

Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA, said the initial phase of the ITS project expanded coverage of Dubai’s main road network from 11 to 60 per cent. The RTA is now gearing up for the second phase of the project over the next few months, which will cover all the main roads of the emirate. The total length of roads covered by the ITS in Dubai will jump from 480km to 710km.

The initial phase saw upgrading and installing 112 dynamic message signs that relay real-time information to motorists about road conditions such as congestions and incidents. They also transmit messages, guidance, and key tips about traffic safety and event management to enhance the efficiency of traffic management. The signs are located in selected locations along Dubai roads as well as sites leading to mega events. For instance, 623 messages were displayed on signs around Expo 2020 Dubai.

The first phase also involved the installation of traffic monitoring and data capturing systems, including the installation of 116 traffic cameras. This brings the total number of surveillance cameras to 235. Hundred incidents detection and vehicle counting devices were installed, which raises the total number to 235. About 115 transit time and speed computing devices were installed, along with 17 Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS).

“Expanding the ITS coverage is a key element in supporting the government’s drive to transform Dubai into the smartest city in the world, which involves the use of smart technologies and software to ease mobility,” said Al Tayer.

The Dubai ITS Centre is one of the largest and most sophisticated traffic control centres worldwide. It manages traffic movement in the emirate using the latest applications of artificial intelligence, big data, Internet of Things, and communication systems. “It has a whole host of traffic-monitoring devices, information-capturing gadgets, and other smart services. Through ITS, the centre manages current and future road networks all over Dubai,” added Al Tayer.

The centre’s advanced iTraffic system, which is linked with field devices, works under an integrated technology platform to collect and analyse big data. It also supports instant decisions to manage traffic movement, incidents, and mega events.

Works completed also included the construction of a 660-km long fibre-optic network for communication between on-site devices and central systems. The total length of the optical fibre network is now 820km.

The project also included upgrading the software of the advanced central traffic system that supports decision-making and provides an automatic response line. The central system integrates with field devices, analyses the data received, and activates appropriate plans.

Source: Khaleej Times

Why booking travel on your phone is a bad idea

Since the first iPhone launched 15 years ago, consumer shopping habits have slowly but relentlessly shifted toward mobile devices. According to a survey of 3,250 U.S. consumers from Pymnts.com, a website dedicated to analyzing the role of payments in new tech, the majority of travel service purchases (51.4%) were made on a mobile device in February 2022.

The trend is even starker among younger shoppers. About 48% of millennials ages 25-40 prefer using mobile phones for online shopping, compared with only 34% of all shoppers globally, according to a 2021 survey of 13,000 shoppers from Klarna, an online payment company.

So, it seems that shopping for travel on an old-fashioned computer will eventually go the way of the horse and buggy. Indeed, some travel shopping services, such as the travel search engine Hopper, offer only in-app shopping for certain bookings, leaving desktop users high and dry.

However, while buying a flight on a phone is more convenient, it could be more costly.

Watch out for drip pricing

The rise in mobile shopping in the past decade has coincided with a sea change in how travel brands earn revenue. Add-on fees, including baggage and seat selection fees on flights and cleaning and resort fees with lodging, have become more common and pricey. U.S. airlines collected $5.3 billion in baggage fees alone in 2021, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

However, a 2021 study in the journal Marketing Science found that shoppers tend to make suboptimal decisions under these “drip pricing” situations, that is, when hidden fees are tacked on throughout the checkout process. Shoppers tend to compare initial prices across competitors, which are low, rather than the higher final price.

“When firms employ a drip pricing strategy, the initial price is almost always lower than a competitor’s all-in price,” said Shelle Santana, assistant professor of marketing at Bentley University and one of the study’s authors, in an email interview. “But once they start to add on amenities such as a checked bag, seat options, etc., that difference in price across firms diminishes and sometimes reverses.”

Anyone who has shopped for airfare on a budget airline such as Spirit or Frontier knows exactly how this “drip pricing” plays out. Yet what surprised Santana and her colleagues was how unwilling customers were to compare alternatives, even after the final price had risen.

“Consumers perceive high search costs associated with starting their decision process over, and they think they will save less money than they actually will,” Santana said.

Basically, shoppers tend to get to the final checkout screen and grudgingly accept whatever fees have been added on. They assume it will be too much hassle to start over and find another option, even if doing so would save them money.

The wrong tool for the job

Shopping on mobile devices is quick and easy for simple purchases, like ordering cat food or paying a bill. Yet shopping for travel is far from simple, and it usually requires switching between several tabs and apps to find the best deal.

Consider the common decision of whether to purchase a flight with either cash or reward miles. This involves several steps. First, you’ll need to search on the airline app or website for award availability, likely while switching to a personal calendar to check dates. Then, you’ll search on a third-party flight tool, such as Google Flights, for estimated cash fares before determining the value of the redemption in miles versus dollars. Once you’ve determined the best option, you’ll then need to navigate through the entire checkout process from both cash and award flight options to determine the true final price.

Maybe some fleet-fingered Gen Zers can manage this task on a mobile device. But for many, it’s too daunting.

Indeed, a 2018 study in the Journal of Marketing followed nearly a million sessions on a shopping website and found that shoppers who switched from a phone to computer completed their transactions at a higher conversion rate. Interestingly, this higher conversion rate effect was even more true for higher priced or risky products.

So, even if you like scrolling for flights on your phone, or if you feel overwhelmed by the mobile-based options, follow the advice of the experts who prefer booking travel — which can be both expensive and risky — using a computer.

“I almost always shop for travel on a desktop,” said Santana. “I like to have several tabs open at once and toggle between them to make sure I understand price differences and drivers across firms.”

Source: Mountain View Today

Kenya Unveils ‘The Real Deal’ Campaign In India To Accelerate Arrivals

Through the destination marketer, Kenya Tourism Board (KTB), Kenya has unveiled its global marketing campaign – ‘The Real Deal’ that will carry vivid visuals across key digital platforms to maximise reach and destination awareness and accelerate Indian arrivals to Kenya in the upcoming years.

The Real Deal campaign has been conceptualised to exhibit the multiple facets of destination Kenya and spread awareness of its latest tourism products and experiences through promoting on – chosen OTT platforms pan India, Theatre screens and digital billboards across select areas in Delhi and Mumbai.

To ensure the campaign’s holistic reach while also driving conversions, KTB has also collaborated with Kenya Airways and five leading tour operators including Thomas Cook, SOTC, Yatra, Make My Trip and Ease My Trip. The partners will be influential in promoting Kenya through varied packages and discounted airfares, which will be communicated across their websites and social media pages. This will be with an aim to redirect the interested travellers to the landing page from which they can plan their upcoming travel to Kenya.

Collectively, the partners and their respective platforms will be instrumental in executing the campaign and positioning Kenya as ‘The Real Deal’ amongst holidaying destination. India is ranked fifth as a source market following USA, Uganda, UK and Tanzania. Kenya has recorded consistent footfalls from the India market even during the past two years owing to multiple favourable reasons including – direct flight connectivity from Mumbai, ease in visa application, flexible COVID-19 entry-exit rule while maintaining health and safety measures and lastly the destination’s array of adventurous activities and unique cultural attractions.

During January to October 2022, Kenya has witnessed 924,303 tourist arrivals out of which Indian arrivals were 55,761. Provided the positive numbers and India as an exponentially growing market for outbound tourism, KTB aims to capitalise on the luxury and family segments and direct the traffic to Kenya by establishing it as an ideal long-haul holiday destination.

Dr. Betty Radier, CEO, KTB, expressed, her confidence in the campaign stating that India was one of the key destinations showing great promise in the recovery of tourism in Kenya and that the campaign will give impetus to the existing interest amongst Indian travellers on the destination.

“India was one of the most hit countries by Covid-19, especially the delta virus that said, they have critical steps that create confidence to travel, for example they are the country with the most vaccinated people. We chose India for the launch because of the immense potential as a key source market and also the fact that Indians love our products, from Safari to Beach and also adventure,” Said Dr. Radier.

Adding to it, Neeti Sharma, Director, Intrepid Marketing & Communications, said, “Kenya as a destination is brimming with aspirational quotient owing to its gamut of once-in-a-lifetime and authentic experiences. ‘The Real Deal’ campaign is a true expression of Kenya’s vast canvas, and we are certain that the strategic activations across media channels along with the efforts of our key partners, will tempt the travellers and result in accelerated rate of arrivals.”

The Real Deal’ campaign has been executed in the USA and UK markets and has been successful in positioning Kenya and driving footfalls to the magical destination.

Source: Travel Biz