One of the songs that often filled the airwaves during those Saturday morning chapel services in my high school days was the hymn, I’ll Fly Away. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem like the kind of hymn the staff at Uganda Airlines would enjoy singing, cos—well, the plane is grounded! Perhaps they would comfortably do the part that goes, “When I die, Hallelujah, by and by”, and leave it at that; cos then it would accurately depict the ailing airline’s woeful story.
As the clock ticks towards midnight on this last day of 2025, many dream of soaring into the new year in explosive fashion with champagne flutes and fireworks lighting up the skies to new hopes, plans, ambitions and prospects. Others have, however, discovered that the ultimate anti-resolution for 2026 is booking into a Uganda Airlines flight—yup, even if your journey is a direct flight from Entebbe International Airport to Entebbe International Airport, some bit of drama seems guaranteed!
The national carrier has spent the better part of the festive holiday perfecting the art of delivering a Nightmary Christmas and a Crappy New Year to its travelers. Dozens of passengers—including those that tried to return home for Christmas or handle year-end business, cos many Ugandans use the UAE route for shopping, work et al—were left stranded over a week ago at Dubai International Airport for several days because the airline struggled to reposition aircraft or provide timely recovery flights, after what was said to be severe weather disruptions. There’s one particular guy that even missed his own wedding as he couldn’t make it to Kampala in time. Dude probably WhatsApped his vows to the priest to read out to his lady. I don’t know!
In a bold move to restore national pride, Uganda had proudly relaunched its flag carrier back in 2019 with shiny new planes, ambitious routes to London, Dubai, and even Mumbai, and the heartfelt promise that this time, things would be different. Alas!—fast-forward to late 2025, and there’s general consensus in the public domain that Uganda Airlines has achieved something truly remarkable: turning the concept of “national pride” into a money pit for the world’s youngest airline fleet.
Early December, one of only two of the Airbus 330-800neo long-haul planes decided Lagos was nicer than Entebbe and, so, it refused to leave! Nah, just kidding: the rumor floating around is that the engines simply needed an oil change. Speculation was also rife that perhaps the engines’ air filters were worn out. Heck, the damn bird probably just needed a new Chloride Exide battery to power up. Who knows! But, seriously, we can’t be that broke: those battery jump-starter kits cost only a few bucks on Ebay!
What we know at this point is that the plane is stuck on the tarmac! The result? Well, when the big bird sneezes, the whole fleet catches a cold. Passengers at Entebbe were left staring at the departure boards like they’re watching stock market charts; only to be told their flight is to be delayed. [Sigh!]—I hate to even imagine what spooky rituals the Nigerians might be performing on that aircraft.
Speaking of which, the Super Eagles sent us packing last evening after a thorough ass-whooping session in an AFCON face-off. And just so you know, the Uganda Cranes were literally the first team to arrive in Morocco, early December, for the month-long prestigious tournament, only to be the first to head home—First-In, First-Out! Reminds me of computer programming back in the day. That was some admirable enthusiasm, though, especially for a team that arrived aboard a commercial Qatar Airways flight. What a demonstration of national pride! For me, that was the first red flag. “Em, you’re not patriotic!”. Fine, that was a black-yellow–RED flag! Happy now?
We could’ve chartered a Uganda Airlines’ flight for the high-profile Uganda Cranes’ trip. That might’ve even boosted the boys’ morale. But, nope! That’s super risky! Cos what if the plane runs out of fuel on the tarmac in Casablanca!?—it happened before in Dar e Salaam, a few years back—Gosh! That would add salt to our already injured butts and make one heck of a continental meme to last many years. Everyone would laugh at us until the next AFCON tournament in Kampala. Generally, the whole saga is something of a nasty dilemma.
Anyway, the choice of Qatar Airways—a reliable, world-class airline with excellent on-time performance and actual planes that return home—came as a quiet but pointed contrast to the ongoing chaos at Uganda Airlines. No delays were reported, or diversions, or extended technical holidays in foreign airports. So far as I’m aware, though, our A330 is still stuck in Lagos!
But, hey, at least there’s a couple of things to brag about: Uganda Airlines is the youngest fleet in Africa, with the most creative excuses on the continent, and most impressively unique ability to make taxpayers feel like they’re personally sponsoring an expensive game of lottery with aeroplanes. The planes are young; they’ve got plenty of time in 2026 to grow up, right after they return from their extended holidays abroad—if they return at all!
Related Story: CHAN 2024: East Africa's Triumphant Defeat
Join the conversation on X:
