Abuja — The Ugandan High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Nelson Ocheger, has expressed confidence that the newly launched Entebbe to Abuja direct flight will promote trade and services between his country and Nigeria.
Ocheger stated this Thursday evening in Abuja while addressing journalists after the arrival of the maiden flight of the Ugandan airline to the nation's capital.
The Ugandan Minister of State for Transportation, Hon. Fred Byamukawa; a Director in Nigeria's Ministry of Aviation, Mr. Hassan Ejibunu; Nigeria's Acting Commissioner to Uganda, Adebowale Oyeyemi; and the Chief Commercial Officer of Uganda Airlines, Adedayo Olawuyi, accompanied the envoy on the maiden flight.
He said it took the maiden flight three and a half hours from Entebbe to Abuja unlike in the past where same journey lasted about seven hours because of lack of direct flight to the country from Nigeria.
He also said the same journey was reduced to four and a half hours last year when the Uganda Airlines started the Entebbe to Lagos direct flight because Abuja passengers would spend one hour in Lagos before connecting the flight.
The Ambassador said: "This flight and those that are going to come, will impact Nigerians and other travellers in many ways.
"First and foremost, it is going to reduce the time spent to move from Abuja to Entebbe thereby boosting commerce between the two countries.
"The Ugandan Minister of Transportation has mentioned that it took them three and a half hours to move from Entebbe to Abuja.
"Secondly, it's going to reduce the cost of transport. Previously, I am sure the commercial manager will talk about that, the cost of transport from Entebbe to Abuja for example using other airlines, takes up to seven hours.
"Thirdly, it's going to facilitate the movement of cargo particularly those ones that can be flown by air from Uganda to Nigeria and from Nigeria to Uganda.
"Once that happens, the volume of trade will certainly increase and the people who produce goods, and those providing services would benefit."
He said businesses would grow, while more people would be employed and the people employed would have money in their pockets.
According to him, "On the question of the impact it will have on human and drug trafficking, the Federal Republic of Nigeria has got a robust system to identify wolves among the sheep and the same with Uganda.
"I am confident that given the systems existing in both countries, this is something that will be a work in progress.
"They (both Nigeria and Uganda) have the capacity to identify the wrong elements who are moving from one country to another, whether they are moving drugs or they are trafficking people.
"So that is something that in my view we, the two governments, will also have to address."
He stated that the High Commissioner of Nigeria has started a conversation that should help his country to review all the existing frameworks that have expired between Uganda and Nigeria, adding that these include revisiting the agreements on drug and human trafficking.
"So overall this has the impact of easing business for those who are in business, of easing movement for those who are offering a service, of facilitating the movement of people who go for tours, who go for leisure.
"My president, Yoweri Museveni, is the champion for African integration. Ordinarily, countries or governments don't integrate. It is people that integrate.
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"Now once we create an enabling environment where people can move freely from Uganda to Nigeria, from East Africa to West Africa and vice versa, we shall have built a block that can be utilized to facilitate the integration of the African continent.
"The other question was the cost. I want to ask the commercial manager to help me on that one," he said.
The Chief Commercial Officer of the Uganda Airlines, Adedayo Olawuyi, said tickets between Abuja and Entebbe in economic class would cost $600.
Olawuyi said: "In the business class, it is a thousand, six hundred and sixty-five dollars ($1,665). That is how much we will be charging at least until the next few months.
"Those are the introductory fares that we have put in place for people to be able to buy tickets to connect to Uganda."
