BA to increase connections from London to Entebbe

UK airline British Airways has announced it will increase its frequencies on the route between London and Entebbe in Uganda. BA will now add two new flights to its existing number of three flights from Entebbe, taking the weekly total to five.

Now competing strongly for passengers from Uganda who are bound for Europe, the airline has moved its departure times from Entebbe to evenings. Previously, flights BA left Entebbe in the mornings, but now the inbound flight that arrives at 7pm will leave on its return leg in just over two hours. Effective this week, British Airways is also offering a promotional fare between Entebbe and London, starting at $525.

This is likely to have a significant impact on other airlines operating out of Entebbe, including KLM, Brussels Airlines and Emirates.

The airline has indicated it is considering a daily service to be introduced in the next few months. The British Airways general manager for Africa has said the daily service to Entebbe has been on the cards for while, but has been delayed due to unavailability of aircraft. He says the aircraft is now becoming available, and the airline is looking to begin a daily service to Entebbe in the next year and half.

For many years, BA had been restricted to operating only three flights a week between London and Entebbe. A highly-profitable global aviation industry had meant the airline had no aircraft to spare on additional routes. In the meanwhile, rival airlines like KLM and Brussels Airways entered the void and grew flight frequencies quickly to five days a week.

However, with the global slowdown and resulting reduced itineraries on other routes, BA says it now has the aircraft capacity to be profitably deployed routes like Entebbe, which have been held up for a long time.