Well this is one of the cooler new long haul routes we’ve seen launched in some time…
In this post:
Uganda Airlines adds London Gatwick flights as of May 2025
We’ve known for a long time that Uganda Airlines wants to launch flights to London, and that’s now becoming a reality. As of May 18, 2025, Uganda Airlines will offer 4x weekly between Entebbe (EBB) and London Gatwick (LGW).
The flight will operate in each direction on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, though the schedule varies every single day, as follows:
UR110 Entebbe to London departing 9:25AM arriving 4:55PM [Sun]
UR110 Entebbe to London departing 12:05AM arriving 7:35AM [Tue]
UR110 Entebbe to London departing 12:25AM arriving 7:55AM [Wed]
UR110 Entebbe to London departing 3:10AM arriving 10:40AM [Fri]
UR111 London to Entebbe departing 7:05PM arriving 6:35AM (+1 day) [Sun]
UR111 London to Entebbe departing 9:40AM arriving 9:10PM [Tue]
UR111 London to Entebbe departing 9:50AM arriving 9:20PM [Wed]
UR111 London to Entebbe departing 12:40PM arriving 12:10AM (+1 day) [Fri]
The 4,004-mile flight is blocked at 9hr30min in each direction. Uganda Airlines will use its unique Airbus A330-800neo for the service. These planes are configured with 261 seats, including 20 business class seats, 28 premium economy seats, and 213 economy seats. For what it’s worth, the airline otherwise flies these planes primarily to Dubai (DXB) and Mumbai (BOM).
The new flight is already on sale, and fares are quite reasonable. For example, business class from Entebbe to London runs $1,260 one-way, and if you want to connect from elsewhere, that only increases the cost marginally. For example, if you want to originate in Johannesburg, that increases the fare to $1,375.
Here’s how Uganda Airlines CEO Jenifer Bamuturaki describes this new route:
“I’m elated and excited to announce the dates for the long awaited direct flights to London by Uganda Airlines. This route marks the end of our establishment phase, and sets us on a course for long term growth and expansion. It gives me great pleasure that we celebrate our fifth year with this amazing milestone.”
Will Uganda Airlines’ London route succeed?
Uganda Airlines commenced operations in 2019, and is owned by the government of Uganda. It’s a revival of an older airline by the same name, which went out of business, ceasing operations in 2001.
The concept of Uganda Airlines is a familiar story — the government thinks that having a national airline will greatly help the economy, since international air service can drive economic growth. However, the airline is also quite ambitious, perhaps unrealistically so.
While the Dubai and Mumbai routes are arguably largely about transporting people looking to work abroad, I think it’s safe to say the London route is primarily targeted at tourists, given Uganda’s natural beauty and safaris.
Will the airline actually make money on this route? Well, in 2024, Uganda Airlines achieved what it views as a significant milestone… by “only” losing around $65 million in a year. That is a lot of money, especially when you consider the airline has around half a dozen aircraft.
Losses were considerably bigger in years prior. As you can see above, the company’s CEO is framing this as the end of the company’s “establishment phase,” and believes the airline is now entering a phase of long term growth and expansion.
Africa is a tough aviation market, especially when it comes to long haul flying. You have Ethiopian Airlines, which is successful because it’s the one well-run and scaled airline, offering unrivaled access to the continent. But other than that, you don’t have many airlines in the region that make money.
The survival of the London route likely comes down to how long the government is willing to sustain losses for, and to what extent the government believes that an airline contributes to economic growth.
Bottom line
Uganda Airlines is finally launching service to London, as this is a route that has been in the works for years. The airline will fly there 4x weekly using the Airbus A330-800neo. Uganda Airlines is trying to grow, though continues to lose bundles of money. Only time will tell how this plays out…
What do you make of Uganda Airlines launching London flights?
Is the new aircraft named Idi Amin?
"While the Dubai and Mumbai routes are arguably largely about transporting people looking to work abroad, I think it’s safe to say the London route is primarily targeted at tourists, given Uganda’s natural beauty and safaris."
There is a huge Indian community in Uganda and neighboring East African countries (Remember when the infamous Idi Amin expelled 50k of them back to India/Pakistan in the 70s? Many of them were 3rd/4th generations), so the Mumbai route...
"While the Dubai and Mumbai routes are arguably largely about transporting people looking to work abroad, I think it’s safe to say the London route is primarily targeted at tourists, given Uganda’s natural beauty and safaris."
There is a huge Indian community in Uganda and neighboring East African countries (Remember when the infamous Idi Amin expelled 50k of them back to India/Pakistan in the 70s? Many of them were 3rd/4th generations), so the Mumbai route (like any other East African nonstop flights to the region) is more for those people visiting families back in South Asia.
Meanwhile, UK hosts one of the largest Ugandan diasporas outside of Africa (70k+), so that route will be mostly for Ugandans.
Entebbe (EBB) is a pleasant enough destination (Lake Victoria) and Sir Winston Churchill called it the Pearl of Arica for a reason. Whether this is sufficient to attract enough tourists from the UK to fill, together with Ugandan expatriates in the UK, an A330-800 remains to be seen. Their departure times are kind of confusing, leaving EBB and London Gatwick (LGW) respectively at the same departure times each operating day would be desirable.
The A330-800...
Entebbe (EBB) is a pleasant enough destination (Lake Victoria) and Sir Winston Churchill called it the Pearl of Arica for a reason. Whether this is sufficient to attract enough tourists from the UK to fill, together with Ugandan expatriates in the UK, an A330-800 remains to be seen. Their departure times are kind of confusing, leaving EBB and London Gatwick (LGW) respectively at the same departure times each operating day would be desirable.
The A330-800 has higher seat mile costs and 50 fewer seats than the A330-900 and is clearly the less popular of the two A330Neos. Unless Ugandan (UR) need the extra range, this choice may come back to haunt them.
The airline is tiny with 2 A330-800 and 4 CRJ-900ER and 4 A320Neo’s in the pipeline.
Other airplanes on order are a 737-800SF, a 777F and 2 787-9, which makes for a messy fleet structure for an airline of that size.
It looks like their fleet was ordered by politicians on a shopping spree and not by airline executives. Making money with such a disjointed fleet will be difficult.
Due to its small size, the potential to connect passengers via EBB will be limited, especially since further up north Ethiopian has a well established hub in Addis (ADD - not ABB as mentioned elsewhere in this thread). EBB has however the advantage of a 4000 ft lower elevation (EBB 3782 ft vs. ADD 7656 ft), which is beneficial for non-stop flights to the UK.
UR got their work cut out for them and I hope they have a capable management and little political interference.
Flew recently with Uganda from JNB to DXB. The A320 flight (leased with DAT) was good and the A330-800neo to DXB was excellent, the crew was really kind and efficient, full meal at the tray table 26min after take off, although the very light load in Business (only four pax) probably helped.
Connection process wasn’t good. Lounge was good. And both points should get better with the new terminal operating.
A flight to Guangzhou...
Flew recently with Uganda from JNB to DXB. The A320 flight (leased with DAT) was good and the A330-800neo to DXB was excellent, the crew was really kind and efficient, full meal at the tray table 26min after take off, although the very light load in Business (only four pax) probably helped.
Connection process wasn’t good. Lounge was good. And both points should get better with the new terminal operating.
A flight to Guangzhou is also being discussed, in fact, already showing at the routes map on the magazine as “next destinations”
Promoting a company owned by a government that passed laws that would result in the long-term jailing or execution of me, you, and Ford. Nice work, Ben.
Information is not promotion. It's AV news & rightfully reported.
But considering the bile you spew on this forum on any given day or post, we're rooting for Uganda.
#SaveBen #SaveFord
Any way to redeem points and miles for this flight?
This flight needs a review! Ben to the rescue? Added bonus, the airline shares the same colors as Air Belgium, which was a favorite of Ben and the readers! If so, a few photos of the airport terminal should be taken
As noted by CreditCrunch, there is an opportunity to draw regional appeal. Zimbabwe yes, but also Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique, all countries which depend on other connections, sometimes longer, often more expensive (UR's announced prices are attractive). This market is presently driven by BA to LHR, both expensive and not frequent enough, and Ethiopian via ABB, which will dearly defend its turf. Also, Rwandair is sure to improve the EBB connection to its own flights.
...As noted by CreditCrunch, there is an opportunity to draw regional appeal. Zimbabwe yes, but also Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique, all countries which depend on other connections, sometimes longer, often more expensive (UR's announced prices are attractive). This market is presently driven by BA to LHR, both expensive and not frequent enough, and Ethiopian via ABB, which will dearly defend its turf. Also, Rwandair is sure to improve the EBB connection to its own flights.
Still, if they play their cards right and if they can stick to their schedule with a single A330 (a big IF), this could work.
Your statements are entirely inaccurate.
BA is not even a bit player in any of these markets - not Zimbabwe, not Zambia, not Malawi, not Tanzania and not Mozambique.
BA's market share to London in each of those markets is Zim 3.8%, Zam 6.6%, Malawi 1.9%, TZ 2.5% and Moz 11.7% - the market leader in all of those by a long way is Ethiopian except for Zambia (QR pips ET by 28% to...
Your statements are entirely inaccurate.
BA is not even a bit player in any of these markets - not Zimbabwe, not Zambia, not Malawi, not Tanzania and not Mozambique.
BA's market share to London in each of those markets is Zim 3.8%, Zam 6.6%, Malawi 1.9%, TZ 2.5% and Moz 11.7% - the market leader in all of those by a long way is Ethiopian except for Zambia (QR pips ET by 28% to 27%) and Tanzania (KQ tops EK by 29% to 20% with ET at 17%). Rwandair only has a moderate presence in Zim (19%) and Zam (18%) with single digit share elsewhere.
Also, Uganda Airlines has a pair of A330s not just a single frame.
Adding onto what @Sean M said, British Airways has a joint business venture with Qatar Airways that covers most of Africa.
So their lack of a presence here isn't that big of a problem.
There's a fairly large Ugandan diaspora in the UK so it's possible they could tap into that as well
I know a few Zim friends who will be pleased with this new route, much easier than connecting through DXB and cheaper than JNB options.
It only connects once weekly from HRE-EBB-LON due to the flight schedules.
What can you do at 1AM in Entebbe airport while waiting for your flight?
Two comments.
Entebbe to London was nearly 100k annual passengers before COVID and is in the top 10 unserved routes in Africa for 2024.
The Tuesday flight departs 0005 and not 0205 as you've listed.
@Sean M., what is your source for unserved route data? I'd love to scour it.
@Evan - Geert Lemaire at Airbus did an excellent presentation last year at the AviaDev Africa conference in Windhoek on unserved routes in the conteient.
Link to the presentation and data is below.
https://www.airbus.com/sites/g/files/jlcbta136/files/2024-06/study_unserved_routes_to_from_within_africa_by_geert_lemaire_-_2024.pdf
Your Wednesday timing is slightly out - it returns LGW-EBB on the same day rather than the next one.
Is the tourist market the most likely to populate these flights? Their tourist attractions are pretty weak compared to Tanzania and Kenya. Also, to what extent are they hampered by flying from LGW rather than LHR?
Gorillas are really only in Rwanda and Uganda
Gorillas have made great progress. They comprise the majority of the Ugandan government.
Just what the world needs.... Another state owned airline from a government with an extreme & dangerous human rights record .... from one who would literally be caught dead there....
Just what the world needs.... Another state owned airline from a government with an extreme & dangerous human rights record .... from one who would literally be caught dead there....