Today marks 28 years since Uganda Airlines #Flight775 crashed while attempting to land at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, killing 33 of 52 passengers on board.
Flight 775 took off from London-Gatwick bound for Entebbe with an intermediate stop in Rome. While on its third attempt to descend into Rome, the aircraft impacted with some trees, then crashed, broke into pieces, and burst into flames. The probable cause of the crash was determined to be “The crew’s lack of adequate preparation in the procedure for a Non Precision Approach on runway 34L at Fiumicino Airport.
The crash was one of a series of incidents that preceded the airlines’ closure in 2001. Uganda is in the process of reviving the national airline.
And 28 years later, President Museveni has disclosed that the country is close to finalizing plans to restart operating the national airline.
According to the president, he had information that Ugandans were spending a lot of money travelling, hence the government’s latest move. ‘‘Somebody has told me that Ugandans are spending US$420 million per year on travel.
‘‘Therefore, the NRM Government has decided to start a National Airline to stop the outflow of this money and to end travel inconveniences to Ugandans. We are now finalizing the modalities,’‘ Museveni said.
He was speaking at the country’s 56th independence day celebration which took place in the Luuka district. The president explained that the national airline was allowed to die because Ugandans were not travelling a lot by air.
‘‘We allowed Uganda Airlines to die because it was making losses and, at that time, Ugandans were not travelling as much as today. Therefore, my dear Ugandans, I can confidently tell you that the future is bright,’‘ he added.
Aside the issue of the airline, he also touched on plans that his government was putting in place to ensure the country reaches its industralization goals. He underlined the importance of investors and tasked officials to avoid delays in dealing with investors.
‘‘The other effort has been in the area of providing cheap finance for the manufacturers. We are going to give capital to Uganda Development Bank (UDB) to the tune of Shs. 50 billion this financial year.
‘‘Then, gradually, it will be increased up to 500 billion shillings over the medium term. They can, then, lend that money to the manufacturers at the interest rate of 15%,’‘ his statement noted.
He also noted that the purchasing power of Africa was continually rising, hence manufacturers were sure to have access to an integrated market locally across the continent and globally.
‘‘While purchasing power outside Africa is declining or stagnant, the purchasing power in Africa is going up. The purchasing power is one of the most important stimuli for production and growth,’‘ he said.
