Uganda Airlines (UR, Entebbe) management has faced sharp questioning before a parliamentary watchdog after the country's recently-published Auditor General’s report showed the carrier lost more than UGX237.85 billion shillings (USD66.8 million) in the 2023/24 financial year.
Appearing before the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities, and State Enterprises (COSASE) on August 14, chief executive officer Jenifer Bamuturaki pinned the losses on high fuel costs, currency depreciation, and crew allowances, along with expensive maintenance and spare parts for its four ageing Bombardier Aerospace CRJ900LR regional jets. Lawmakers said they would summon former executives, including former CEO Ephraim Bagenda (who ran the airline between 2018 and 2023), and members of the procurement team to explain why the regional aircraft were chosen, citing constitutional powers to hold former officials accountable.
The committee also raised concerns about Uganda Airlines’ failure to pay dividends to the government for two years, heavy reliance on passenger and cargo revenue, and mounting lawsuits over delayed cargo and lost baggage.
Management said debts remained below the critical 50% of equity threshold and pointed out that the 2024 loss represented a 25.6% improvement from the UGX324.94 million (USD91.2 million) loss in the previous year. Bamuturaki said the airline has been renegotiating contracts "to the bone" as they come up for renewal to cut costs and eliminate unfavourable clauses.
Still, COSASE chairman Medard Lubega Sseggona said the losses remained "a matter of grave concern to us".
He also directed Bamuturaki to report back on allegations of ticket tampering and fare manipulation, which had been flagged to COSASE by Transport Minister Edward Katumba Wamala, claiming this cost the airline hundreds of billions of shillings.
Katumba told COSASE he had received reports of airline staff colluding with affiliated travel agencies to manipulate ticket prices and fares, leading to estimated losses of UGX179 billion (USD50.2 million) from price manipulation and UGX140 billion (USD39.3 million) from fare tampering. He cited cases where staff with ties to agencies allegedly favoured them over competitors.
COSASE ordered the airline’s management to respond in writing to the allegations by August 18 and also submit findings of a South African consultant hired to investigate revenue challenges.
Meanwhile, according to the Watchdog Uganda news site, Bamuturaki said Uganda Airlines plans to launch domestic flights in the 2026/27 financial year to boost internal connectivity and ease pressure on the country's road network. The national carrier, which currently serves 23 international destinations, including a recently introduced route to London Gatwick, will leverage Uganda’s 47 airstrips to roll out the new services.
The airline currently operates the four CRJ900LRs and two A330-800Ns, but is finalising a narrowbody order with Airbus for four additional aircraft: two A320-200Ns and two A321-200Ns. In the meantime, it plans to dry-lease one A320-200 and one A321-200 by October 2025. Additionally, the airline has extended a 12-month ACMI contract for one A320-200 from DAT - Danish Air Transport (Kolding). It has also received permission from the government to wet-lease a B737-800(F) while talks with Boeing continue about the potential purchase of B787s for flights to China in 2026.
