Uganda Airlines restarting direct flights to Rwanda gives Simple Flying the opportunity to review Uganda Airlines’ progress.

Africa’s Uganda Airlines is restarting direct flights to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. The two countries are excited at the possibility of boosting connectivity and trade, especially as Uganda Airlines was reborn in 2023.

Restarting flights a vehicle of diplomacy

According to the Ugandan news website NewVision, the flights are intended to be a means of patching up relations between the neighboring countries of Rwanda and Uganda. After difficult times starting in 2018 until 2022, when the border was reopened – Uganda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs hailed the progress towards healing.

“We are brothers and sisters. Indeed, there have been some difficulties but with the consensus reached by our leaders, progress has been made in normalizing relations. I am confident that through joint efforts, our excellent relations will continue to flourish in the years ahead.”

Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vincent Biruta also voiced similar sentiments. It’s worth noting that RwandAir already offers flights between the two nations.

But troubles are present for Uganda Airlines

Earlier this week, according to the Ugandan independent daily newspaper the Daily Monitor, the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) Tribunal canceled a fuel and in-flight services supply contract. The PPDA found that Uganda Airlines needed to tender the contract fairly. Being the previous contract has expired, Uganda Airlines intends to promptly reopen the contract for bids.

This is part of the ongoing corruption investigation into operations at Entebbe. Bribery, extortion, and document tampering – including with passports are all being exposed. Since 2020, no less than 26 Entebbe Airport workers have been relieved of duties as a result.

Nonetheless, Uganda Airlines has ambitions

Nonetheless, Uganda Airlines has ambitious plans for its future. For instance, Airbus and Boeing are both pitching their fleets ahead of a future aircraft order. Uganda Airlines already ordered two Airbus A330-800 aircraft. There is also the distinct possibility that Embraer’s E190-E2 and E195-E2 aircraft may also be ordered as they offer double the capacity of Uganda Airlines’ current CRJ900s and efficient performance. Nonetheless, for an airline with only six planes – four CRJ900 and two Airbus A330neo jets – this is a significant event.

Uganda Airlines is also making plans to connect directly to London, United Kingdom. However, for the connection to happen, Entebbe Airport must meet international standards of facility and operations.

Overall, Uganda Airlines is increasingly making intra-Africa connections. One of them is to Johannesburg, South Africa to meet growing demand. The flights are now five times a week. Another connection is to Nigeria, starting last November as the first flight to West Africa.

Source: Simple Flying

RwandAir has taken delivery of an Airbus A330-200, the airline’s third long-haul aircraft.

The aircraft, registered 9XR-WX, was delivered to Kigali International Airport (KGL) on March 18, 2022, the airline said in a statement published on Twitter.  

RwandAir’s CEO Yvonne Makolo said the aircraft would allow the Rwandan flag carrier “to continue our route expansion and offer customers even more connections”. 

The new aircraft will operate to RwandAir’s key destinations in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, as well as to London, Brussels, Lagos, and Dubai, the statement added.  

Fleet expansion and route development 

The arrival of RwandAir’s new A330 aircraft comes four months after the airline’s cargo arm, RwandAir Cargo, received a Boeing 737-800 SF, its first cargo-dedicated aircraft. 

The freighter was delivered on November 24, 2022, and was intended to support the expansion of the airline’s cargo operations, operating to destinations in Africa and the Middle East, including Johannesburg, Nairobi, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  

RwandAir launched direct flights to London from its hub in Kigali in November 2022, operating four weekly flights to London Heathrow Airport (LHR). The airline had previously operated three weekly flights to LHR via Brussels. 

In addition to expanding its long-haul fleet, Makolo also hinted at the airline’s plans to grow its 737 fleet and make changes to its regional fleet.  

During a podcast interview with AviaDev Insight Africa Makolo highlighted RwandAir’s plans to phase out its existing fleet of Bombardier CRJ aircraft and explore alternative options for its regional fleet. 

Source: Aerotime Hub

South African regional airline Airlink has announced that it is starting a major new international route, between Johannesburg and Nairobi, Kenya, next month. Airlink will become the first private-sector airline to operate on this route.

This will make Kenya the third East African country, and the fifteenth African country, served by Airlink. The new service will start operating on April 24, and will be operated daily.

“Airlink’s entry on the route supports last November’s agreement by Kenya and South Africa to eliminate trade barriers and strengthen commerce and economic ties by opening up business and cooperation between the two major economies in key sectors and markets,” explained airline CEO and MD Rodger Foster. “It also follows South Africa’s removal of visa requirements for Kenyans visiting South Africa for up to 90 days (South Africans do not require visas to visit Kenya).”

The carrier will operate the service using its 98-seat Embraer E190 jet airliners. The Johannesburg-Nairobi flights will be coded 4Z 070, and depart at 09h40, arriving in Nairobi at 14h45. The return flights will be coded 4Z 071 and leave Nairobi at 15h45, landing at Johannesburg at 19h05.

“This is also an important moment for Eastern-Southern Africa connectivity,” he highlighted. “With Airlink’s network now including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and most of the Southern Africa Development Community nations, we offer travellers the widest set of choices and convenient regional and intercontinental connections on our aircraft and with our global carrier partners. These enable the businesses and economies Airlink serves to expand their own respective market reach. Similarly, our competitive services will promote tourism in both markets, generating additional foreign travel spend.”

Airlink operates a fleet of 60 jet airliners and, over the past two years, according to Airports Company South Africa, has achieved an average on-time departure performance of 95.73%. It also operates flights to St Helena Island in the South Atlantic. It is a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and is accredited under the IATA Operational Safety Audit programme.

Source: Engineering News

Air Mauritius (MK, Mauritius) is considering the acquisition of an A321-200N to serve Rodrigues Island once the airstrip on the island has been sufficiently extended and once the airline grows its fleet with the expected arrival next month of two A330-200s on a three-year lease from Carlyle Aviation Partners for use on medium-haul destinations, including a new twice-weekly service to Delhi International in India from May 3.

The A330s will also be deployed on existing routes to St. Denis de la Réunion and to Antananarivo, Madagascar, Mauritius’ Defi Media reported. The widebodies would allow Air Mauritius to offer more frequencies and help it adapt its fleet to market and passenger needs.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, the aircraft are the 254-seater VP-CPJ (msn 751) and VP-CPQ (msn 807) previously flown by Fiji Airways (FJ, Nadi). Delivery has been delayed since the end of 2022. The airline also has an outstanding order for two A350-900s (registration number unknown), according to ch-aviation fleets advanced data.

The expected arrival of the two new A330s will bring the number of aircraft in the fleet to 11. This includes two A330-900Ns from Air Lease Corporation; four A350-900s (two leased from AerCap, one leased from Tokyo Century, and one-inhouse aircraft); and three owned ATR72-500s.

Air Mauritius’ new chief executive, Kresimir Kucko, was not immediately available for more information on the A321neo plans. The aircraft type is classified as suitable for Code 4C category airports as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), requiring runways that are 1,800 metres or longer. The present runway at Rodigues measures 1,287 metres, according to the ch-aviation PRO airports module.

Since its return to service at the end of 2021 after 18 months of voluntary administration to avoid liquidation, Air Mauritius has gradually resumed operations with flights showing satisfactory load factors on most routes, the report said.

Source: Ch-Aviation

It’s still way too early to tell whether it was the right decision to nix the Vistara brand, but Air India clearly has its work cut out for itself as the brand name also comes with a lot of baggage.

The Tatas will let go of Indian full-service carrier Vistara as they look to merge the airline with the more “internationally-recognized” Air India, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said on Monday.

Wilson told news agency Press Trust of India that efforts would be made to retain some of the “Vistara heritage in that new manifestation.”

He added that the process of Vistara’s integration with Air India is awaiting regulatory approval from the Competition Commission of India.

AirAsia India will also be merged with Air India Express. “In the next couple of months we will start deploying more public facing steps that will indicate the coming together of these two airlines,” the Air India CEO said.

Once completed, the Tatas will end up with one full service and one low-cost airline, Wilson said, while reiterating the aspiration of attaining that 30 percent aviation market share objective in India both domestically and internationally.

Calling it an amalgamation of the existing assets, Wilson said, “We are picking the best from each of those airlines to carry forward and using the combined economies of scale and combined knowledge to elevate the proposition beyond what’s offered by any of the existing airlines currently.”

The mergers would also help the group to tap a market segment that it previously hasn’t been quite equipped to take full advantage of, according to the CEO.

Air India’s Record Aircraft Orders

While there have been talks of Air India’s record order of 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus, Wilson said the task is more than just buying aircraft. “It’s the absolute and complete transformation of Air India,” he said speaking to Indian media.

With the Tatas taking over Air India, the erstwhile Indian state carrier, in 2022, the transformation has been focusing on three phases, Wilson said.

In the current take-off phase, Wilson said they have been putting a comprehensive effort to address some of the issues that have accumulated over many years of underinvestment, addressing system shortages and restoring aircraft to flying service.

Wilson said despite the challenges the airline has so far announced 16 new international routes and capacity has been increased on nine others.

United Arab Emirates’ national carrier Emirates is also reportedly looking at a codeshare pact with Air India, according to reports in Indian media.

Having already put significant capacity into North America from both Delhi as well as Mumbai and some from Bengaluru, the airline has also added capacity into Europe — Milan, Copenhagen, Vienna, and now has 12 services into Gatwick.

The airline is also looking to establish direct connectivity with New Zealand. No airline currently offers direct flights between the two countries. 

The Investments

The Tata Group is not shying away from investing in the Indian aviation sector, Wilson said. “The aircraft order requires a significant sum and how that will be funded is a matter of internal deliberation but there are many sources.”

The group plans to fund its $70 billion order for a record 470 aircraft with internal cash, equity and through sale-and-leasebacks, according to a Reuters report.

The group has also committed $400 million in refurbishing the existing aircraft and more than $200 million in upgrading and improving the IT systems, according to Wilson.

He said the group is also investing significantly in a training academy and is in deep discussions with a number of potential partners to set up what will be one of the world’s largest training academies in India.

“As time progresses, we can build our own talent pipeline clearly for Air India as the first priority. But secondly, and perhaps more significantly, for India as a whole,” he said.

And with all that investment, profitability is definitely an objective for the group. But Wilson said the group is not putting any time to any milestones, as it is a work in progress.

“There’s a lot of growth that we need to invest in, a lot of capabilities that we need to strengthen and deploy,” he said.

Source: Skift

Emirates has been exploring options to codeshare on flights with Air India, as the Indian flag carrier continues to pivot its brand to offer a more premium service since it was acquired by Tata Sons. 

Talks with Air India “are at an early stage,” said Mohammad Sarhan, the Vice President of India and Nepal at Emirates, during an interview with India-based business news publication, Mint. Sarhan said that the Indian carrier’s main priority right now is the merger with Vistara, which is why the two sides are only at the “initial-level talk” stage. “Let’s see how it evolves,” Sarhan continued.  

While Emirates has interline agreements with almost all airlines based in the country, the “best way forward” for the Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based airline would be a partnership with a premium carrier, Sarhan added.  

When Air India and Singapore Airlines, a minority (49%) shareholder of Vistara, announced the merger between the now-privatized airline and Vistara in November 2022, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Tata Sons, stated that the merger would make Air India “a truly world-class airline”. 

Tata Sons finalized the acquisition of Air India from the Indian government in January 2022 and, with 51%, is a majority shareholder of Vistara. 

Emirates previously signed a codesharing and interline agreement with Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet in November 2019. However, while the interline agreement went into effect, the two airlines have not placed their codes on each other’s flights. 

The United Arab Emirates’ national carrier has partnerships with two low-cost carriers, namely another Dubai, UAE-based airline flydubai, and the British no-frills airline easyJet. 

Source: Aerotime Hub

After a duel in 2018 for the supply of Uganda Airlines long-haul fleet that ended with Airbus’ A330-800neo carrying the day with an order for two aircraft, the world’s two largest aircraft manufacturers are back in the trenches, this time for a potential order of up to six aircraft.

Although it is an outlier, Brazil’s Embraer is also understood to have thrown its hat in the ring, making for a three-way competition.

Delegations from Airbus and Boeing were in Kampala this week to make pitches for their respective models, as Uganda Airlines approaches decision time for a selection of the aircraft that will power its mid-range passenger and cargo fleets.

Industry sources confirmed that at different times during this past week, teams from both manufacturers met with Uganda Airlines management and officials from key aviation stakeholder organisations such the Ministry of Works and Transport as well as sector regulator Uganda Civil Aviation Authority.

Confirmed meetings

Without divulging details, Uganda Airlines chief executive Jenifer Bamuturaki confirmed the meetings.

“Everyone is pitching: Airbus is pitching, Boeing is pitching and Embraer is pitching, but as Uganda Airlines, what we are interested in is a mid-range aircraft,” she told The EastAfrican.

The airline urgently needs an aircraft to fill the gap between the 76-seat Mitsubishi CRJ-900 and the 257-seat A330-800. Although the operational radius of the CRJ-900 can cover the airline’s envisaged African route network, it is severely weight-limited, imposing a trade-off between loading passengers and baggage.

There is also a financial imperative to the midrange. Uganda Airlines, which saw its loss widen to Ush266 billion ($72.5 million) for the 2021-22 fiscal year, partly blames its financial position on slow route development and a mismatch between passenger volumes and the higher cost of operating its Airbus A330 on the Entebbe-Dubai route — its longest sector. 

Because of the passenger profile on the Dubai route (mainly traders), the airline is not maximising yield from the A330 because its business and premium economy cabins, which have a combined 48 seats out of the 257 on board mostly go unsold.

Aviation fuel price

A spike in the price of aviation fuel has pushed the hourly cost of operating the type to $15,000, making it uneconomical to operate on some routes.  In an earlier interview with this newspaper, Ms Bamuturaki said that they were interested in an aircraft that can adequately serve the heavier routes such as those planned for West Africa, while also capable of substituting the A330 on routes such as Dubai, London and Mumbai, which are expected to launch later this year.

“We want an aircraft that can do Dubai, Mumbai or London when we have low loads. We also want a mid-range one on those routes where the A330 is either too big or unavailable,” she explained.

At stake for the manufacturers is an order of up to six aircraft: Four in the 100-plus seat category and two freighters; one with a capacity of 30 tonnes to serve regional routes and another with 60-tonne capacity for the intercontinental market.

Buy two tranches

The aircraft will be bought in two tranches, with two passenger and a cargo planes coming in the short term followed by another pair of passenger aircraft within a five-year timeframe.

Sources familiar with the discussions say Airbus is offering its A321, but it was not clear which specific variant of the type it was pitching. Meanwhile, Boeing is understood to have made presentations on all variants of its B737 Max family for the airline to select.

If range and size are the primary considerations, then the race will be between Airbus’ A321-LR and A321-XLR versus Boeing’s Max 8 and 9. With a capacity of between 162 and 178 passengers in a two-class configuration, and a range of 3,550 nautical miles, the Max-8 or its larger sibling the Max-9 with similar range but with five extra seats, can easily reach London.

The Max-7 with 3,850nm range and 138-153 passenger capacity, and the Max-10 with 3,300nm range but with 188-204 passengers are, however, likely out of contention for now, because they are yet to secure US Federal Aviation Administration certification.

Also, the Max-10 would also be restricted in terms of range while the Max 7 would impose a seat-mile cost penalty because of limited seat capacity.

According to analysts, however, a big selling point for Boeing is scalability. Looking at an eventual fleet of four aircraft, between the Max-7 and 9, Uganda Airlines would have more flexibility in managing capacity in response to varying market opportunities. But that will come at the price of fleet complexity and added training and tooling costs.  At a minimum of 180 seats, the A321 could prove too big on some regional routes.

Source: The East African

The cargo and logistics division of Etihad Airways, Etihad Cargo, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Astral Aviation to expand the partnership between the two parties and enhance the cooperation between the regions of Abu Dhabi and Nairobi, further growing Etihad Cargo’s reach into the African market.

This latest agreement builds on Astral Aviation’s expanding partnership with Abu Dhabi, which will see Astral Aviation operating more flights to the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) capital, supported by Etihad Cargo.

Through the comprehensive MoU, Etihad Cargo’s customers will benefit from additional cargo capacity out of Nairobi through the introduction of additional services from Nairobi to Etihad Cargo’s hub in Abu Dhabi from April 1.

In 2021, Etihad signed a service level agreement (SLA) with Astral Aviation to provide reliable and cost-effective air freight solutions for the transport of pharmaceuticals across Africa.

The SLA was Etihad Cargo’s first pharmaceutical interline agreement and ensured the carrier’s partners’ full compliance with the latest International Air Transport Association pharmaceutical and gross domestic product regulations and standards.

Etihad Airways global sales and cargo senior VP Martin Drew says the signing of the MoU demonstrates Etihad Cargo and Astral Aviation’s shared commitment to joint network development and providing a more comprehensive solution to international cargo transportation between Nairobi and Abu Dhabi.

“The partnership will enable Etihad Cargo to expand its African network and offer increased cargo capacity both into and out of Nairobi, strengthening the connection between the two cities via this key route and further developing this critical African gateway,” he says.

Astral Aviation CEO Sanjeev Gadhia says the MoU with Etihad Cargo will enhance accessibility and connectivity through Etihad’s Abu Dhabi hub.

“We look forward to transporting perishables from Kenya into Abu Dhabi and beyond on Etihad’s network, and on the return with cargoes from Asia, [the] US and Europe to connect into Astral’s intra-African network in Nairobi. This cooperation will create new opportunities for our respective clients and will be a win-win partnership,” he says.

The agreement will see Astral Aviation and Etihad Cargo sharing up to 50% of all available capacity on the new Nairobi-Abu Dhabi-Nairobi flights, increasing the capacity Etihad Cargo offers air cargo and air mail customers.

Through Etihad Cargo’s Abu Dhabi hub, the carrier’s global network will offer connectivity to destinations around the world. Etihad Cargo will use its expansive road feeder service network to transport cargo arriving in Abu Dhabi from Nairobi to destinations throughout the UAE and other offline stations.

Source: Engineering News

The Kenyan government is moving forward with its plans to halt support for Nairobi-based Kenya Airways (KQ) by the end of 2023, having now trimmed KQ’s bailout package.    

The Kenyan National Treasury has cut Sh10 billion ($80 million) from the package, a 33% reduction from the original figure, according to a Business Daily report.  

The Kenyan government initially approved a Sh34.9 billion ($278 million) bailout package in December 2022 in a bid to help the airline repay its arrears to lessors.   

Kenya’s government is the majority shareholder in KQ, with a 48.9% stake. KQ has received a total of Sh98.2 billion ($784 million) in bailout loans from the Kenyan government. 

However, the East African state is keen to turn KQ’s misfortunes around, with the flag carrier having last turned a profit in 2012. 

Kenyan government keen to sell controlling stake in KQ to investors 

In mid-December 2022, the Kenyan government announced its intentions to pair the Kenyan flag carrier with a strategic investor, which would involve selling its entire stake in KQ (48.9%) to interested parties.   

In an interview with Bloomberg, Kenya’s newly elected President William Ruto revealed that Kenya was actively exploring options and potential partnerships to make KQ a “profitable entity”.   

Delta Air Lines was among the potential airline partners with which the government was interested in partnering, stating that discussions with the airline were at a ‘preliminary stage’.   

Source: Aerotime Hub