News from ‘Uganda – Gifted by Nature’ and the East
African region
By Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome
Third edition January 2009
SKYJET DELAYS START UP
Indication is that a lack of ‘approvals’ from the
political oversight and the powers that be has delayed
the operations start of Skyjet, which was generally
expected by early January, after the airline had passed
all regulatory hurdles and secured their AOC. Murmurs
at the airport in Entebbe are that this may be a
‘play’ similar to what has often been seen when new
airlines in the region wanted to start flights into Nairobi, to keep the
airline’s B737 off the profitable Juba route for a while longer.
However, with Royal Daisy Airlines apparently no longer on the
route – they halted operations months ago when their 30 seater
Embraer 120 went into heavy maintenance – there is definitely an
opening for a second regular operator, now that Eagle Air only flies
three times a week via the Southern Sudanese town of Yei to Juba,
making the journey with them substantially longer and hence less
attractive for Juba travellers from and to Entebbe.
Said one senior aviation expert in Kampala to this correspondent,
preferring anonymity for fear of repercussions: ‘Uganda can do with
more activities in the aviation field, but how does one attract more
investment into the sector in Uganda, when officials first promise
you the lot and after your money is spent and all prerequisite steps
have been taken they then let you wait with an aircraft sitting on the
ground and a lot of salaries to be paid against no income. They are
simply not serious and word has gotten out to potential investors
what to really expect. When the first helicopter service started from
the International Hospital, they could not get medivac flight permis
sions
late in the afternoon or at night; even so that heli was properly
equipped for night operations, citing obscure ‘security reasons’.
The owners lost a lot of revenue and although they are now back,
they sent the aircraft to South Sudan at the time so they could pay
their bills. Even our own Ugandan cargo airline with about 8 DC10
and other cargo aircraft, DAS Air, was allowed to collapse and now
foreign cargo carriers completely dominate that market in Entebbe.
It is a disgrace really, but comes as no surprise, that is how our fellows
operate and behave. As a Ugandan I am sad about this, and as
an aviator I am madly angry with those responsible’.
Going by conventional wisdom, once the airline has finally received
the ‘nod’ it will still take between 2 and 4 weeks to get their marketing
and sales activities into gear to ensure a decent load on their
flights, so February presently seems the best bet if anyone would
want to put money down. However, the busy pre and post holiday
season, when first flights from Juba were fully booked and now
flights to Juba are equally full again, is lost for Skyjet to their finan
cial
detriment.