AKFED to launch an airline in Uganda

Meridian takes to the skies in November as ‘Air Uganda’

By MICHAEL WAKABI
Special Correspondent

Meridian Africa Airlines Uganda Ltd will now be launched in November and operate as Air Uganda following its acquisition of two McDonnel Douglas DC9 aircraft from South African leasing firm Tour Craft.

“The supplier has confirmed that the aircraft will be available from September; we expect to commence commercial services on November 10,” the firm’s chief executive, Pietro Niedda, told the press.

Air Uganda will initially operate a daily service to Nairobi with two flights a day from Monday to Friday and a single flight each on Saturdays and Sundays, he added. Dar es Salaam will be served by five flights a week, with three going through Kilimanjaro Airport while Juba will be served three times a week.

The new carrier also received a timely endorsement from President Yoweri Museveni when he announced last week that the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (Akfed) would launch an airline to take the place of the defunct Uganda Airlines.

According to Mr Niedda, the airline has been assigned the International Air Transport Association code U7. In addition, company officials expect to get an Air Operators Certificate from the Ugandan Civil Aviation Authority towards the end of September.

Mr Niedda said the DC9s, which have been acquired on a wet lease, are only stopgap measure as Air Uganda awaits an MD87 aircraft in February 2008 and another in May. The aircraft will be configured to a 99-seat layout with the business class taking 20 and economy 79.

He said the carrier was considering a switch to the new CRJ 700 or 900 series.

Meridiana had promised a second quarter 2007 entry into service but this changed after a decision was made to switch from Canadian Regional Jet CRJ100 series aircraft to the MD87 series over maintenance concerns.

It has since emerged that though neither aircraft can be maintained in Africa, the MD87 was favoured because Meridiana International Airlines — the parent company — operates 17 such planes in its fleet, meaning maintenance can be procured in-house.

The Douglas family of aircraft allows us to share in-house facilities and capacities, which significantly lowers our costs,” he said.

Mr Niedda added that the failure of Bombardier Canada to switch the aircraft to a two-class configuration within the time required by Meridiana weighed heavily in favour of the MD 87. The CRJ100s have since been taken up by Nairobi-based Jetlink.

Air Uganda has so far recruited eight Ugandan cockpit crew (four pilots and four first officers), who are scheduled to complete their conversion courses and attain type certification on the MD87 in December. Also, cabin attendants and ground staff were recruited. The cabin attendants will soon undergo a certification course so as to work on the DC9.

Air Uganda’s entry will be the third attempt to set up a medium-haul Ugandan airline in the seven years since the collapse of flag carrier Uganda Airlines. It comes with a $20 million budget from its sponsor Akfed.

Air Uganda has been licensed for an initial period of five years to provide scheduled and non-scheduled passenger and cargo services.

The planned entry of the airline on the Tanzania route, now served by Air Tanzania and Precision Air as well as the Nairobi route, which Kenya Airways dominates, promises to launch a bruising battle for market share.

Still, Mr Niedda says Air Uganda is not banking on taking traffic away from competitors but on generating new traffic through product positioning and pricing strategy.

Meridiana has pursued an aggressive expansion strategy in Africa that has seen it take control of the Malian and Burkinabe flag carriers and more recently Air Cameroon. The carrier is one of two final bidders for Rwandair Express, where a decision is expected in mid-October.

The East African