British Airways’ departure was long overdue – expert
A British Airways plane during take-off. The airline announced its exit from the Uganda with effect from October.
Kampala. The exit of British Airways (BA) from Uganda was ‘long overdue’ given the current turbulent global airline business and reducing passenger numbers, according to Mr Benedict Mutyaba, the former managing director Uganda Airlines and proprietor of defunct East African Airlines.
In an interview at the weekend, Mr Mutyaba, said the airline business was facing challenges of reducing passenger traffic and global geopolitics, among others.
“The challenges are not unique to British Airways but the airline business. BA recently closed in Tanzania an indication that the plan to close in Uganda was only but delayed,” he said.
The airline, which has operated in Uganda for 24 years, last week announced it would halt its operations with the last flight leaving Entebbe for London on October 2.
“Unfortunately, we have concluded that our services to Entebbe are no longer commercially viable,” a communication from the British Airways International Media Team, reads in part.
When asked to explain what they meant by not “commercially viable”, BA did not respond but the Cambridge Dictionary defines commercial viability as “the ability of a business, product, or service to compete effectively and to make a profit.” BA despite being almost booked out most of the time failed to make this route profitable.
Mr Vianney Luggya, the Civil Aviation Authority public relations officer, told Daily Monitor that whereas the industry would miss British Airways, there were a number of possible alternatives that have connecting flights to UK.
“We will miss them since they are the only airline that directly flies to London,” Mr Luggya said in a phone interview at the weekend.
It has been slightly over a year since BA increased the number of flights to Entebbe from three to four times a week.
Market outlook
British Airways is the second airline company in less than two years to suspend operations at Entebbe International Airport with Air Uganda quitting the market in June 2014 after Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) withdrew its licence.
However, there have been airline entries, especially from the Middle East with the most recent ones being Etihad Airways and Fly Dubai.
