{UAH} Another Opportunity Lost?

ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY LOST?

-          By Moses R. Wilson

A few months ago, I reported on the possible demise of Air Uganda and the associated loss of both national pride and tax income.  Various online sources claim that negotiations are still underway and the airline is still hopeful of flying once again.

In the meantime, on my last trip to Uganda, I had hoped to fly the last leg from Dar es Salaam to Entebbe on Air Uganda but instead had to complete it on Rwandair through Kigali.

Regardless of actual ownership, Uganda once again did not have an international flagship carrier bearing its name and the country was once losing out on potential tax income.  As a result of this cessation of operations by Air Uganda, competition to destinations like Nairobi literally evaporated overnight and airfares skyrocketed.  Also, a vacuum was created in the provision of direct flights to other destinations like Dar es Salaam and Juba.

So, welcome to Fastjet – a low-cost London-based airline which seeks to do to air travel in Africa what Southwest Airlines did to US travel.  Fastjet's African operations are based out of Dar es Salaam where it has provided low-cost flights to several domestic destinations and other international African destinations such as South Africa.  Fastjet has now filled the vacuum left by Air Uganda and I can only conclude that Uganda, as a country, is on the losing end of this entire saga.

As reported from the New Vision today.

By Samuel Sanya

ENTEBBE - FastJet has completed the first of many flights between Dar es Salaam and Entebbe, reducing a trip of 12 hours to just over an hour, on top of boosting tourism, business and ties between Uganda and Tanzania.

The route had remained vacant following the suspension of Air Uganda's operator's license and the collapse of Dar es Salaam and Kenya airways-backed Precision Air.

Exits of the previous two fliers along the route had seen fares rise from $400 (about sh1m) at the lowest to $890 (about sh2.3m) through a series of connecting flights. Fastjet has reduced the fares by dissecting air ticket prices to make the cost of meals and other facilities optional. 

Fastjet is convinced their game plan will have a strong competitive advantage and that the route will be a commercial success.

The budget airline has launched with fares as low as sh140,000 (around $54) for a one-way flight. That excludes taxes of $59 (sh153,400) per air ticket.

This means that fliers will incur a combined sh293,400 in any of FastJet's three Airbus A319 fleet which are all in economy class configuration.

Jai Gilbert, FastJet's head of marketing noted at the Entebbe international airport that the fleet has a low fuel burn.       

"We keep the ticket pricing down by being very efficient and limiting costs. Other airlines include charges for meals, drink and luggage, we have made that optional.

"We believe that we are the people's champion. One of the things we hope to do is to work with government to bring the taxes down and enable more people to fly.

"We believe the launch of this route – the only direct link between Uganda and Tanzania – will stimulate new business and tourism traffic in Uganda."

Fastjet has been flying within Tanzania since 2012 for fares as low as $20 (sh52,000) between Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Kilimanjaro and Mbeya, garnering over one million passengers, 38% of whom were first-time fliers.

Gilbert says they are targeting the Ugandan business community heading to ports in Dar es Salaam, the 3,700 Tanzanian student population in Uganda and tourists moving in between Uganda and Tanzania.

The airline is flying twice to Uganda with plans to extend the frequency to four flights at the end of September. The company also has plans of establishing a hub in Nairobi and new routes in South Sudan in addition to existing routes to Johannesburg (South Africa), Harare (Zimbabwe) and Lusaka (Zambia).

FastJet and recently Ethiopian Airlines have come in to a fill vacuum left with the suspension of Air Uganda, flying to Dar es Salaam and South Sudan respectively.

Vianney Luggya, the principal public affairs officer at the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) noted that Air Uganda could make a comeback and that CAA is working closely with recently suspended airlines to recertify them.

"Whether Air Uganda was here or not, FastJet would still have been here. We have a liberalized economy and we encourage competition because it creates efficiency and improves quality of service," said Luggya.

"The recertification process is going on smoothly and is advanced stages. We have an agreement with the operators not to talk to the press about this and there are obligations on both sides."