While it’s not getting a lot of attention outside of Africa, Uganda Airlines is having quite the crisis, as the airline has been an operational disaster for weeks now (thanks to @MeenzMev for flagging this). What’s actually going on here, and what’s causing these problems?
Continue reading: Uganda Airlines Meltdown: Flights Delayed By Days, Passengers Riot
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Just wait until the day (if) Spirit ceases operations and leaves passengers stranded. Airport police will be having a very busy time.
What are you even talking about?
Uganda has nothing to do with Spirit, and Spirit has nothing to do with this piece.
Calling that a riot is ridiculous. A riot is violent by definition. The video shows some people milling about and the person taking the video doing some shouting. Would that be called a riot if it was happening in Europe?
Riot by pax?! Where is the sight of glass getting smashed? Furniture thrown through windows? Fires lit? People physically assaulted and beaten to a bloody pulp? Goods looted? Cars upturned? Planes being stormed? Blood on the ground? Rocks and bricks flying through the air? What I see are irate pax shouting. That's it. Oh, I also see Lucky's poor grasp of basic English-language words - like "riot".
Fair suck of the sav, Ben… that could hardly be called a riot. The Bonnet Crew at Houston cause bigger problems than this on the daily.
Calling this a riot is rage bait at best. I've seen bigger riots in NYC with my own eyes.
This should make people put into perspective how people would act in the US if something like this were to happen.
Its like how American newspapers report people struck by natural disasters - black people "loot" stores while white people "find" stuff.
To add, Lucky as a member of the LGBTQ community should know the importance of choosing words carefully.
But I guess Lucky doesn't see himself as a member of a minority group in the USA. Really goes to show that for white people their race identity transcends everything.
Riot? lol. Nice attempt at low key racism. Yet when Russia and Ukraine war crimes against each other affected flights (and safety) for many other countries you didn’t have too much say. And definitely no hyperbolic claims.
Maybe Ben was praising the quality of the delay? Like "Delays at Entebbe are a riot!".
I think that must be it.
People, it's called hyperbole! It's a writing style. Ben didn't mean riot in the literal sense. Every time he uses hyperbole the literal meaning crew comes alive.
Words have meaning. You don't just get to make up what tone you think words convey.
You sir are 100% correct. Words have meaning. And when a sloppy writer labels someone a rioter, he better get his facts damn straight, or get called out.
Hyperbole kills your credibility. Or didn't you imbibe that piece of ageless wisdom in primary school?
There are so many smaller airlines like this around the world. Makes me wonder who flies them and why considering most of the time these off airlines are not cheap and lack partners/status, etc.
The performance of Uganda Airlines does not surprise me at all. Anything is Uganda is based around a single family affair - be it Electricity Generation/Ditribution/Transmission; road repairs, etc.
As you put it "where prestige and nepotism are the priorities, over reliability and profitability".
What a shame; even a brute like Idi Amin was able to manage things better. I don't have a word that can describe the current lot.
Oh please, smaller Russian airlines do this all the time and no one bats an eyelid.
Thanks for an interesting article. We used UA for their route from EBB to ZNZ in December. We had booked a return ticket with KLM/AF from Europe to EBB and back from ZNZ. Considering the options from EBB to ZNZ (Ethiopian via ADD, KQ via NBO or Air Tanzania which is black listed in Europe) I came to the conclusion that UA would be the best option given schedule, price and direct flight. As the issues with delays started to be apparent in December, I feared that we would be affected. However, the
flight was on time, crew very good and all of our bags arrived. I assume we were lucky.
Some additional facts to add to the article: UA has one of its CRJ planes grounded at EBB (5X-KNP) since November. This means that should one of their 3 other CRJs need maintenance, they will face even larger issues. They also wet lease a 320 from a Danish company (DAT). The aircraft used for most of 2025 (OY-RUY) flew to Sofia (Bulgaria) in late November, likely for maintenance. A replacement 320 (OY-JRP) arrived a number of weeks later. This aircraft has tried to operate on some of the 330 routes like Dubai and Lagos but also with substantial delays.
I would argue that the inflight product is good but the EBB handling is not good. Information is also poor and an area where much improvements is warranted.
The Uganda airlines needs a drastic overhaul. 1. Let klm be brought in, to manage the airline and the problem will be solved 2. Or Swiss Airlines could be used to manage the airline. 3. An American management consultancy company would be contracted to provide guidance to Uganda airlines company.