Airlines investment interest in Uganda grows.

Uganda’s one and only international airport; Entebbe International airport has been one of the under-served destinations on the African continent.

However with the growing tourism industry and the discovery of oil together with the positive economic prospects, Uganda’s international airport has got many global airlines interested in investing in the country. It is assumed that this will make the East African countries more connected than before.

Following the footsteps of British airways, KLM and Emirates was Turkish airlines that began direct daily flights to Entebbe from its Istanbul hub in mid 2010. This was followed by Qatar airways that commenced its direct flight from its hub in Doha to Entebbe.

In early December, we expect Gulf Air, yet another giant carrier from Bahrain, to join the growing list of giant carriers. Gulf air will be re-launching its direct flights to Entebbe after having halted it operations in 1993 on grounds of inappropriate aircraft size.

With the coming of new carriers flying to Europe , Middle East and Asia, this is expected to break the dominance that has been mostly enjoyed by Emirates, KLM, British Airways and Brussels Airlines. We also expect the competition to heat up, calling for players to raise their games, especially when it comes to quality of service delivery and pricing.

Mr Donald Ajuoga; Kenya Airways country manager Uganda: “Competition is good particularly for consumers as they benefit from affordable and quality services. They also have a wider choice of carriers to travel to their destinations.”

Nipping at the heels of Egypt air and South African airways the Largest operators in Africa , Kenya airways flies to 45 African cities and  is East Africa’s market leader both by passenger numbers and revenue. Of recent KQ’s shareholders have approved the carrier’s plan for raise additional capital from the stock market to fund its expansion.

Not differing from KQ’S Manager Turkish Airlines country manager Uganda, Mr Orhan Subay also agreed that competition will better service delivery and lower air ticket charges to certain destinations. He added on that Turkish airline will compete by offering professional services to travellers. “Turkish Airlines treats travellers as guests but not as passengers and this enables us to serve them better,” Mr Subay told Prosper recently.

With these increasing number of airlines flying to Uganda, this will make safaris to Uganda cheap.