Will Uganda Airlines Fly The Distance This Time Round?

QU, that was the call sign for former national airline carrier, Uganda Airlines. For 16 years, QU flew the skies until it went into liquidation in May 2001. Now, word is strife that the airline is set to fly once again.

Uganda Airlines Logo 

Looking back, there was a time when Entebbe International Airport had a string of airlines flying in and out of it, like the deceased’s - British Airways, Alliance Air, Africa One, Air Uganda, Sabena, East African, Victoria International Airways, Egypt Air and Air Tanzania (once deceased but has come back to life). Today, in and out of Entebbe are the regulars – South African, Kenya Airways, Emirates, Qatar, Brussels Airlines, RwandAir and Ethiopian amongst others.

Alliance Air died in October 2000

For many a traveller who flew the old QU, seeing the new QU in its new livery land at Entebbe will be an auspicious day and if there is one song that was adopted by the English during the recently concluded football World Cup – ‘It’s Coming Home’, I might suggest to the powers that be that they play it as it touches down.

I have my memories of flying QU – from the Fokker Friendship F-27 to the Boeing 707 to and from London, Gatwick. Flying QU was a laid-back affair - free seating and you could do just about everything. While there was no inflight entertainment like there is today, it didn’t bother because there was always someone – especially on the flight from Gatwick to Entebbe who had bought a cassette player (*) and would blare out music.

The Fokker Friendship F-27 That Plied The Entebbe/JKIA Route

While food was inclusive of your ticket, drinks were not and I stand to be corrected on this – but a beer was sold for 50 British pence. One thing that you could do then that you can’t do today is to go up to the cockpit and sit with the crew for a while and smoke in any part of the aircraft.

While the livery of the new QU looks exciting, well before the first aircraft has landed, it appears and in true Ugandan fashion, that sinister elements are already at work. In its July 21 – July 27 edition, The East African newspaper screamed out that: “Uganda Airlines to fly the ‘unwanted’ Airbus 330 Neo”. Of course, the headline was an alarmist one that implied QU was buying junk planes that are not airworthy. However, reading through the story it tells a different story all together.

What Uganda Airlines Would Look Like 

And there is more. Everybody out there who does not have a job or who want a career change, is looking at QU and have already started lobbying anyone who has a link to the airline. I too have been approached and my answer is always, “I don’t know” but they won’t leave it to rest and insist that I must know someone with connections. And there is Fellow who sent me his resume and asked that I pass it on. For the 50^th time Fellow, I really DON’T KNOW anybody who is part of the airline.

Ephraim Bagenda (R), CEO - Uganda Airlines

While some scramble for jobs, word is that some are already trying to bring down those who already have jobs. I have never met Ephraim Bagenda, who is the airlines new CEO and is married to Rebecca Kimoome who by the way, happens to be a niece to Princess Elizabeth Bagaya so sources tell me though I first heard of him when he was still at Air Uganda and his involvement in getting RwandAir off the ground. But there is something suspicious because since he became CEO, his Wikipedia profile has suddenly been altered in the he is no longer a Ugandan, a Mutooro at that from Kyenjojo, but Rwandese. Hmm…. 

(*) A machine or gadget for playing back or recording audio cassettes that kids born after 1998, has never seen.

Pictures: airlinesgallery.smugmug.com, chimpreports.com, aviationbusinessjournal.aero