Uganda Airlines has scheduled four weekly flights between Entebbe and Accra from Tuesday, 27 October, with a stop in Lagos. The planned service adds Ghana to its West African network, but does not provide a nonstop flight between Uganda and Ghana.
The carrier announced the October start date in its own route-launch publicity. Its website now lists Accra among its destinations, alongside Lagos and Abuja. The Accra destination page also advertises journeys to Nairobi, Johannesburg, London, Mumbai and Dubai, reflecting the airline’s connecting network. Confirmation that the inaugural service had departed or arrived was not available when this report was prepared.
The routing was confirmed in recent reporting by New Vision and Uganda Radio Network. A Boeing 737-800 wet-leased from Ethiopian Airlines is scheduled to operate the service, extending Uganda Airlines’ existing Lagos connection to the Ghanaian capital.
The Lagos stop is significant for passengers comparing journeys advertised as direct flights. Uganda Radio Network reported that the same aircraft would continue between the three cities. A direct service with an intermediate stop is different from a nonstop service, even where passengers do not change aircraft.
The initial timetable published by aviation schedules specialist AeroRoutes lists flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. Flight UR900 was scheduled to leave Entebbe at 10am, reach Lagos at 12.30pm and depart again at 1.30pm, arriving in Accra at 1.55pm. These are local times in each city.
The return service, UR901, was listed to depart Accra at 7pm, arrive in Lagos at 9.25pm and leave at 10.25pm. Its scheduled arrival in Entebbe was 4.55am the following day. That timetable was published on 20 August, rather than being a record of flights actually operated on Tuesday.
Acting chief executive Girma Wake linked the expansion to a wider reorganisation of connections at Entebbe. In an August interview with New Vision, he said schedules were being aligned so long-haul arrivals could feed African departures, with regional services supporting onward connections to London, Mumbai and Dubai.
“The two countries have a lot in common. A lot of families have connections,” Wake told the newspaper, describing Ghana as a natural destination for the carrier.
The airline has promoted the route as a means of developing trade, tourism and cargo links between West and East Africa. Its Ghana marketing programme included a workshop for travel agents and tour operators, alongside engagement with business representatives.
Those commercial plans also include a Ghana-Uganda Trade and Business Forum advertised for 28 October at the Accra Marriott Hotel. The airline, Uganda Tourism Board and Uganda High Commission in Ghana were named among the partners in the announcement reported by MyJoyOnline.
The organisers said the forum would address air connectivity, tourism, investment and economic cooperation. Its advertised objectives are proposals for developing business links, rather than evidence that trade agreements or investment commitments have already been secured.
Accra is one of two additions announced in the carrier’s expansion programme. The airline’s own publicity separately gives 18 November as the planned start of daily flights to Kigali, Rwanda.
Photo: A.Savin, Wikipedia. Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 ET-AQP at Addis Ababa, 24 January 2018. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ET_Addis_asv2018-01_img41_Bole_Airport.jpg Licence: Free Art License 1.3, https://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en/ Archive aircraft illustration, not the inaugural flight; this particular airframe has not been verified as assigned to the Accra service. Resized for the website; photographic adaptation with gradient and branding for social review by Podium News, shared under Free Art License 1.3. Original photograph remains accessible at the source link.
