Michael Wakabi
29 June 2009
Nairobi — British Airways has finally embarked on a long overdue expansion of its services to Entebbe.
The carrier has announced two additional flights between Entebbe and London effective October, bringing to five the number of flights available per week, to its London Heathrow hub.
The flights that will depart Entebbe on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays put the British flag carrier at par with competitors KLM and Brussels Airlines that have in recent years seen rapid growth of their services to Europe from Uganda.
Speaking in Kampala, BA commercial manager for Uganda Faith Chaitezvi said the move demonstrated the confidence the carrier has in Uganda as a destination.
The new services will be catered for at the airlines dedicated Terminal 5 at Heathrow which offers direct connections onto BA's network of over 140 destinations worldwide.
While many of our customers use our services to fly to London on business or for visiting friends and family, we have seen an increasing amount of transfer traffic with Washington, New York and Toronto the most popular destinations for onward travel among our Ugandan customer base," Ms Chaitezvi said while explaining the rationale for the decision.
Although it is the only airline that has been offering direct flights between Entebbe and London for decades, BA expansion plans on the route have been constrained by lack of aircraft as its fleet renewal programme, hinged on the Boeing 787 has been pushed back by delays in the aircraft's development.
However, this situation has since changed, as a capacity reduction programme across the board, potentially frees up aircraft that can now be profitably deployed on routes such as Entebbe.
After revealing a full year operating loss of $349 million last month, the airline also announced capacity cuts of 4 per cent for the 2009-10 winter season.
BA's move raises the stakes in the competition for north bound travellers out of Entebbe, as international airlines increasingly focus on the African market, attractive for its high yields and mostly stable growth over recent years.
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