Uganda’s official carrier, the Uganda Airlines, on Wednesday announced an expansion to its current network with new scheduled flights to Kigali (Rwanda) and Accra (Ghana) in a wider effort to capture new markets.
The airline said that it will begin flights to Accra on October 27, 2026, with four flights every week while Flights to Kigali will start on November 18, 2026, with daily services.
Speaking during the launch at the Kampala Sheraton Hotel, Airlines officials said that the two new routes will deepen trade, tourism and investment links between Uganda and West Africa while strengthening its regional feeder network.
Among the dignitaries in attendance were the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Vincent Bagiire; Ambassador Ricahrd Kabonero, head of Regional Economic Cooperation at MOFA, Uganda’s High Commissioner to Rwanda, Ambassador Major General (Rtd) Robert Rusoke; Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Uganda, Ambassador Joseph Rutabana; and Minister of Works and Transport Fred Byamukama.
According to Mr Girma Wake, the acting Uganda Airlines CEO, the Accra route, specifically will help build on cultural and economic ties between the two countries and positions the airline to tap into trade currently flowing through South Africa.
“Ghana trades a lot with South Africa. It (Uganda Airlines) will be the shortest route except for Direct flights by South African airways,” he said.
The Accra route, which will be served by a Boeing 737-800, becomes the second West African destination on the Airlines’ network after Lagos, Nigeria where it flies five times a week. Mr Wake added that by extension these two routes could feed into each other.
“It (Lagos) is an extension of that to Ghana, just one additional hour, but it builds up gradually because Ghana can support a flight on its own and Nigeria can support a flight on its own. We build together until we get the natural volumes,” Wake said.
The veteran aviation expert also acknowledged that the Kigali route, which is going to be served by the Bombardier CRJ900, should have been introduced much earlier but has however been delayed by both commercial and regulatory considerations
“We started the Kigali route very late. I believe it should have been launched on day one,” he said.
The addition of Kigali and Accra expands Uganda Airlines’ African network, providing passengers with more direct travel options while enhancing connectivity between East and West Africa.
The Kigali route is expected to strengthen business ties, facilitate tourism and deepen the long-standing relationship between Uganda and Rwanda.
According to Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Uganda, Ambassador Joseph Rutabana, Uganda Airlines’ new direct route between Kigali and its hub in Entebbe, is expected to make travel more affordable while supporting business, tourism and people-to-people exchanges between the two neighboring countries.
“The move could help lower airfares, expand travel options and strengthen regional connectivity,” Ambassador Rutabana said.
The Two new destinations announced Wednesday now add to the current 17 destinations that are already on the airlines growing network since its revival in 2019.
These include, Nairobi, Mombasa, Juba, Mogadishu, Bujumbura, Kinshasa, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, and Kilimanjaro.
Others are Lagos, Abuja, Johannesburg, Lusaka, Harare, Dubai, Mumbai, and London.