Nigeria deepens air pact, Uganda Airlines launches flight to Lagos, gets Kano Abuja routes

• NCAT gets nod to train Ugandan pilots, others

Nigeria on Thursday deepened air transport pact with Uganda as the East African country launched services to Lagos from Entebbe International Airport with three weekly flights to Lagos.

It was very remarkable that a crop of Nigerian pilots flew in the aircraft from Entebbe to Lagos.

In order to make the Nigeria-Uganda route more open, and accessible for passengers to and from Eastern and Western Africa and beyond, two other cities in Nigeria, Abuja and Kano, have equally been approved as entry points for Uganda Airlines by the Nigerian government under the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between both nations in the spirit of Single Africa Air Transport Market (SAATM).

SAATM and YD aim at liberalizing intra-African air transport services in terms of market access and seamless air connectivity within the 54 African Countries.

The launch of flight services to Lagos by Uganda’s national carrier, Uganda Airlines would help to close the gap in the travel needs of travelers from West Africa and East Africa.

It equally affords connections between two regions of the continent to the world and one done in the spirit of Africa’s flagship policy of air transport liberalization otherwise known as the Single Africa Air Transport Market (SAATM) which tends to promote intra-Africa air travel.

The flights will be taking place on Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays and the flight will take under 5 hours. A return ticket for Economy class will be US$ 510 Economy and Business class at $1800.

Uganda’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Nelson Ocherger expressed joy over the inaugural flight of Uganda Airlines to Lagos, saying the approval by the Nigerian government would open a vista of business opportunities to both nations.

He further stated that the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) exists on reciprocity, adding that his country awaits when Nigerian carriers would commence services to Uganda.

His words, “The importance of air transport underscores the promotion of trade and investment and it gives Africa the opportunity to leverage on all AU agenda. We thank the Nigerian government for the necessary approval needed to do this operation.”

Ocherger disclosed that his country through the Uganda Civil Aviation Academy has entered into a partnership with the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria to train Ugandan pilots, engineers, and other aviation professionals.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar who was represented by Director of Airport Protocol in the Ministry, Ambassador Oludare Folowosele said Ugandan Airline’s operation was an opportunity to bridge West Africa and East Africa air transport hiccups, lamenting air connectivity as a major challenge in Africa wondering why Africans would travel to Europe first before connecting another African city while wasting over 12 hours on a trip that is normally three or four hours.

According to him, “It is ridiculous to go to Europe before connecting two African neighbouring countries. What we are doing today would lead to wealth creation, shortening of travel time from one country to another rather than depend on Europe all the time for flight connections.”

The journey for Uganda Airlines to commence flight services to Nigeria it would be recalled started on 9^th October 2002 in Kampala, Uganda when the two respective Ministers of both countries responsible for Civil Aviation initiated an Air Services Agreement (ASA) with the ultimate desire of bringing about a direct flight from Entebbe, Uganda to Lagos.

This was further reviewed on January 21^st, 2005 with certain provisions. It was a matter of concern that the ASA was never operationalised until October 19^th, 2023 with Uganda utilising the designated airline from her side to commence the flight operations.

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN) who was represented by Director of Air Transport Management in the Ministry, Hassan Ejibunu stated that aviation remains the best way for Africa to connect her people and promote inter-Africa business in line with Africa’s 2063 Agenda, as championed by the continent’s leaders.

“Aviation has a huge market that should be explored by indigenous African Airlines, as no other Nations can develop the aviation sector for us, except us, Africans. We need to do this in the interest of our over 1.37 billion people, which is 17.4% of the world’s population. I wish to, therefore, challenge Nigeria’s local airlines to seize the opportunity to start operating regional and continental flights to make SAATM and YD achieve their aims, as envisioned by African leaders.”

Wole Shadare