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?
In this post:
Uganda Airlines faces major issues after A330 grounded
Uganda Airlines is the small national carrier of Uganda, which launched operations (in its current form) in 2019. The airline has a small fleet of just two Airbus A330-800neos, four Bombardier CRJ-900s, and one leased Airbus A320.
The carrier uses its A330s for select routes, including from Entebbe (EBB) to Dubai (DXB), Lagos (LOS), London (LGW), and Mumbai (BOM). Back on December 8, 2025, the A330 with the registration code 5X-NIL operated a flight from Entebbe to Lagos, and it has been grounded there ever since. It’s not entirely clear what’s going on, though presumably there’s a maintenance issue.
As you might expect, when you have a schedule published that requires two A330s, and half of that fleet becomes grounded, you have major issues. The thing is, it sounds like the carrier has been handling this situation absolutely horribly. The other A330 has the registration code 5X-CRN, and it has continued operations as much as possible. However, it can’t fly two routes at once.
So not only have a bunch of flights been canceled, but the other A330 has been operating flights with absolutely massive delays. There seems to be no effort to maintain any schedule consistency, but instead, the plane is just trying to operate a limited number of flights with huge delays.
For example, just look at the flights in recent days, per Flightradar24 data. Flights that are supposed to arrive at 11:40AM arrive at 8:15PM. Flights that are supposed to arrive at 8:20PM arrive at 4:36AM. And those are the lucky people who actually get to fly on (roughly) the day they were scheduled to.
The scenes coming out of airports are wild, with many videos of passengers essentially rioting in terminals, out of frustration.
Some people, on the other hand, have a more positive attitude. 😉
Uganda Airlines seems ill equipped to handle this situation
Obviously when you’re a small airline, it’s an operational catastrophe when one of of your two long haul planes is grounded. I think we can all understand that this can happen, though, as safety is paramount.
As I understand it, the biggest source of frustration is Uganda Airlines’ horrible management in this situation. It’s as if the airline didn’t make any plans for what would happen if one of these planes were grounded on short notice. The issue is that passengers are showing up at the airport ready to fly, only to find out that their flight is delayed by days, with no real notice of delays.
There are reports of abandoned check-in counters, and staff just generally not knowing what’s going on, and not having any information about when flights will actually depart. Uganda Airlines’ only social media presence during this crisis has been to wish people a Merry Christmas.
Unfortunately I can’t say that I’m surprised that this is happening at Uganda Airlines. Africa is a continent with so much potential for aviation, and there are a few incredibly well run airlines. However, it’s also the continent with the highest number of poorly run, government owned airlines, where prestige and nepotism are the priorities, over reliability and profitability.
Uganda Airlines has been hemorrhaging money since launching. The airline has accumulated losses of over $250 million since launch, and has lost a staggering $67 million in the last financial year. Sheesh, that means the airline is basically losing $10 million per plane per year. It’s simply horrible.
I can’t say I’m surprised by these results, given the company’s management. In early 2022, Uganda Airlines fired the company’s previous CEO, who was under investigation for allegations of financial mismanagement, collusion, and nepotism in staff recruitment, among other things.
The current CEO has also been under scrutiny over her qualifications and job performance. When the previous CEO was fired, PwC was allegedly hired to find a new CEO for the airline, and the government gave a list of qualifications for the role, and the CEO who was chosen didn’t meet any of the qualifications.
Prior to joining Uganda Airlines, she worked as the director of sales and marketing at two different hotels in Uganda (the Sheraton Kampala and Golden Tulip Kampala), and from there she was somehow appointed to the role of commercial director at Uganda Airlines.
I mean, if she started as the commercial director, and the airline has racked up a quarter billion dollars in losses, well…
Bottom line
Uganda Airlines has been an operational mess for around three weeks now, after one of the carrier’s two A330s was grounded. While that’s obviously going to have big operational impacts, what’s even worse is how the airline has handled this.
Virtually all passenger accounts suggest that communication has been a disaster, with people receiving no notices of cancelations, arriving at the airport to find unstaffed check-in counters, and then being told their flight will be delayed by days. It makes you wonder about the company’s management…
What do you make of this Uganda Airlines meltdown?
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...
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.
Oh please, smaller Russian airlines do this all the time and no one bats an eyelid.
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.
Talk about ‘Escape from Entebbe’…
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.
@Alonzo
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.
@Ricky
Hyperbole kills your credibility. Or didn't you imbibe that piece of ageless wisdom in primary school?
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.
Maybe Ben was praising the quality of the delay? Like "Delays at Entebbe are a riot!".
I think that must be it.
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.
Is it low key, though?
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.
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.
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".
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?
Classic Uganda.
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.
I agree but as an aside what will happen if they’re planes stop flying?
Far better than Delta's recent meltdown.