A water cannon salute went off at about 6:25pm Nigerian time on Thursday, as the Uganda Airlines aircraft touched ground at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport, in Abuja, marking a historical first direct flight between Entebbe and Abuja for Uganda’s national carrier.
Ululations erupted among the Uganda delegation led by junior transport minister Fred Byamukama.
The aircraft, UR900 that left Entebbe International Airport in Uganda at about 4:25pm, touched Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at 6:22pm, Nigerian time.
Uganda is ahead of Nigeria by two hours.
A water cannon salute is a practice commonly done to celebrate milestones in the aviation world.
Byamukama said the craft’s arrival in Abuja was fulfillment of a government promise while launching the Lagos route in 2023.
“You know when you promise, it becomes a debt. The commitment we made was that within one year from the time we commissioned the other one, we should be able to come to Abuja,” the minister remarked.
Uganda Airlines CEO Jennifer Bamuturaki (C), junior transport minister Fred Byamukama and Nigerian envoy to Uganda Fehintola Oyeyemi (C) flag off Uganda Airlines passengers to Abuja on September 12, 2024 at Entebbe International Airport. PHOTO/HANDOUT
Byamukama also applauded Nigerians for the warm reception, saying the two countries have enjoyed long term cordial relations.
According to him, the direct Entebbe-Abuja flight “will shorten the time spent in transit by half and promote economic development between the two countries among others.”
Specifically, the journey is reduced to within four hours, down from 10 hours.
Ugandan ambassador to Nigeria Nelson Ocheger voiced optimism that the route will increase trade volumes between the two African states.
“…And thirdly, it’s going to facilitate the movement of cargo that can be flown by air from Uganda to Nigeria and Nigeria to Uganda and once that happens, the volume will increase and when the volume increases, it’s our people to benefit,” Ocheger observed.
The flights to Nigeria’s administrative capital come just one year after the national carrier launched services to Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub.
The flights will be tagged to the existing service to Lagos.
The flights to Abuja and Lagos will be on Thursday and Sunday and will operate using the flagship Airbus A330-800 neo aircraft.
Uganda airlines’ new service is expected to address the connectivity gap between the administrative capital of Africa’s most populous nation and East Africa.
Through this service, travelers from Nigeria’s central, north and northeastern regions can seamlessly connect to Nairobi, Dar-el-salaam, Mombasa, Mogadishu, Mumbai and Dubai, where the national carrier also flies to.
The national carrier is also set to open two more new routes later this month- to Harare in Zimbabwe and Lusaka in Zambia.
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