Uganda Airlines CEO, Jenifer Bamuturaki, has voiced concerns over the impact of middlemen service providers on the airline's operational costs.

She specifically criticized intermediaries such as fuel suppliers, catering, and cargo service providers for inflating prices, which drives up the cost of essential services and causes losses for the airline.

Bamuturaki noted that the airline's profit targets have long been hindered by the expensive services offered by third-party providers.

"We currently have about $95 million tied up in procurement and contracts with local service providers, and some of these are hard to terminate without risking business relationships," she explained.

"Our costs are higher than our revenue."

The CEO emphasized that eliminating these middlemen is a difficult but necessary decision to minimize losses and improve profitability.

She revealed that the airline plans to eliminate intermediaries through a self-handling initiative to streamline costs.

"We launched our own self-handling project in 2022, which has saved us nearly $400,000 a month at Entebbe. As we expand, we are managing our own flights, including check-in and ramp services, and we recently purchased our own ramp buses. We aim to manage the entire customer journey from start to finish," Bamuturaki stated.

She also added that Uganda Airlines has been approved and certified by the regulator to service its own aircraft, a move that is expected to reduce losses and contribute to the airline's profitability growth.

By reducing reliance on external service providers and taking control of its operational processes, Uganda Airlines is taking strategic steps to improve efficiency and financial performance.