Air Uganda (Entebbe) has announced it is indefinitely suspending operations after the Ugandan Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) last month revoked the Air Operators Certificates of all locally-based international carriers.
In a statement, the carrier placed the blame for its suspension solely on the UCAA and arguing that as an airline, it had conformed to all required international standards including securing its IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certificate.
It said the UCAA's failure to pass its most recent International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)-backed audit (Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme - USOAP) had resulted in it, along with Uganda Air Cargo (UCC, Entebbe) and Transafrik International (TFK, Luanda 4 De Fevereiro) subsidiary, Transafrik Uganda (TKU, Entebbe), losing their AOCs.
"It is now apparent that the audit revealed shortcomings in the CAA’s oversight and regulatory capacities, consequently impacting the CAA’s ability to award Air Operators Certificates. The Ugandan CAA regrettably opted on 17th June to withdraw, without consulting the airlines affected, Air Operator’s Certificates (AOC) for all international commercial air operators registered in the country," it said.
During the process of recertification, the UCAA has instructed all affected airlines to suspend their operations. As a result of this, Air Uganda says it has incurred "massive financial losses on a daily basis" and suffered "reputational damage" warranting the suspension of flights.
Founded in 2007 as part of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), Air Uganda operated three CRJ200s on flights to Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta, Dar es Salaam, Bujumbura, Kigali, Mogadishu, Kilimanjaro, Mombasa, and Juba. CEO Cornwell Muleya has now announced that all its aircraft will now be returned to their lessors in Europe.
