Uganda Airlines makes inaugural flight to Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia – The wheels of Uganda's national carrier, Uganda Airlines flight touched down in Mogadishu airport, Somalia’s capital on Thursday at about 9 a.m. local time after 20-year hiatus, Garowe Online reports.

The maiden voyage from Kampala to Mogadishu this morning makes Uganda’s premier airline the latest carrier to invest in Somalia’s economic recovery, with four flights a week, sources have announced.

The Airline has roared back to the sky after 18 years of non-existence after receiving new CRJ900 Bombardier Aircrafts last April and placed two orders for airbuses for the commercial flight business.

The airline collapsed in 2001 and has been out of the market since then. Museveni’s government has recently revived in a bid to bolster the country's economic growth in the region.

Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Kenya Airways, and Ethiopian Airlines are among international airlines already operating daily and weekly flights to the increasingly competitive Mogadishu route.

The seaside Mogadishu Airport is recording a sharp increase in travelers and air traffic, thanks to the relative calm that has returned to the city and other parts of the country, over the last few years.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Al Shabab militant group has been forced out of the capital and most urban areas in sustained operations by the Somali army with the support of the African Union troops since 2011.

GAROWE ONLINE