UGANDA’S new national flag carrier, Air Uganda has in the first year of operation registered significant performance as a regional airline company. The airline has been able to transport over 70,000 passengers within its first 12 months, with an average load factor of 70% between Entebbe and Juba.

The load factor between Entebbe and Nairobi averaged 60% during the first year of operation. During the second half of 2008, Air Uganda signed code share agreements with Air Tanzania on the Entebbe-Kilimanjaro/Dar-es-Salaam/Zanzibar routes which both airlines service.

Air Uganda is a member of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) which is promoting economic development in many African and Asian developing countries.

The agreements mean that flights operated by Air Uganda are jointly marketed as a flight for one or more other airlines.

Most major airlines today have code sharing partnerships with other airlines. The Code-share agreements, according to The Inflight Magazine of the company were signed by Air Uganda and Brussels Airlines on the Entebbe-Juba route serviced by Air Uganda and on the Entebbe-Brussels route serviced by Brussels Airlines.

Other code-share partners are actively being sought and are expected to be announced in the very near future, according to Ms Jenifer Musiime, the marketing and sales manager.

Air Uganda was formed in 2007 and began commercial flights on November 15, 2007. Based in Kampala, with the operations base at Entebbe International Airport, Air Uganda flies to various countries in East Africa.

The company is 100% owned by the Aga Khan fund for Economic Development (AKFED), which also has interests in the national airlines of Mali and Burkina Faso through its company Celestair.