Uganda Airlines, based at Entebbe, has been planning direct operations into South Africa since its launch in August last year.

Those plans, interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, are finally coming to fruition and flights between Entebbe and OR Tambo International are set to start this month. The schedule is still unknown.

Tourism Update understands that it is likely the service will run five times a week, and that two of those flights will go via Lusaka in a triangular service, incorporating fifth freedom rights (passengers from Johannesburg may disembark at Lusaka and more passengers embark, who may then disembark at either Entebbe or OR Tambo).

The airline currently uses CRJ-900 jets on its regional routes, with 76 seats in a two-class configuration. There are 12 seats in business class and 64 in economy.

Uganda Airlines currently flies to Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Bujumbura, Mombasa, Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, Mogadishu, Juba, and will soon add Kinshasa and Lusaka.

A press release says the airline is awaiting delivery of its first Airbus A330 and it expects to start long-haul operations in early 2021, with flights to Dubai, London, Guangzhou and Mumbai. By the end of 2021, the airline plans to serve over 20 destinations from its East African hub.