By MICHAEL WAKABI

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Uganda Airlines plans to spend $95 million on procurement during 2024/25 fiscal year and is exploring ways of supporting local suppliers to earn a bigger slice of that spend. The money will be split among supplies, services and works.

The national carrier also expects to hit the 700,000-passenger milestone at the end of 2024, on the back of capacity and frequency growth on key routes.

The numbers were announced this week at the carrier’s first supplier forum in Kampala, during which local suppliers were taken through existing and emerging opportunities at the flag carrier.

According to Chief Executive Officer Jenifer Bamuturaki, the local supplier database has grown to 200, and Ush120 billion ($32.3 million) has been paid out in local contracts over the five years that the airline has been in operation.

Read: Uganda Airlines leases aircraft to up operations

She, however, lamented the challenges with quality and consistency, a barrier that has often forced the airline to foreign source products that could be produced locally. 

Local suppliers need to think becoming globally competitive, so that their growth can also support the carrier’s cargo operations and national export base, Ms Bamuturaki added.

Demand for onboard consumables, 90 percent of which are sourced from local suppliers is increasing as the airline grows its network and passenger numbers increase, she says. 

According to provisional numbers, Uganda Airlines expects to report 480,000 passengers carried during fiscal 2023/24. The full year number for 2024 however, is expected to be about 700,000 passengers.

The growth is accruing from network development which now stands at 13 destinations, increase in frequency on key routes and capacity growth through up-gauging aircraft on regional routes. In May, the airline added a leased 156 seat A320 to its fleet.

The aircraft has enabled the carrier to tap into growing demand on routes such as Nairobi, Kinshasa and Johannesburg, while also creating room for more frequencies.

Starting July, Nairobi, which is served 16 times a week, will increase to two flights a week — three flights a day for six days of the week, except Saturday. Kinshasa will increase from five to six days a week, while Juba will have double daily flights for four days, taking the weekly total to nine flights. 

Read: Uganda Airlines lays loss-exit plan   

Dar es Salaam has been decoupled from Zanzibar and will now operate daily from current five weekly flights. Zanzibar will now be coupled with Kilimanjaro with both destinations served three times a week.

“We remain committed to working with you to expand on the range of products that you can supply on competitive terms. But we also want you to grow with us by transforming into globally competitive companies that can supply quality products not just Uganda Airlines but the global legacy airlines.”

“But you will need to concentrate effort on improving quality across packaging, consistency in taste and supply,” Ms Bamuturaki said.
She added that the company, which is looking to launch a dedicated freighter service, sees success of its suppliers as integral to its own sustainable growth, because they will help fill the cargo capacity.

She also pointed them to new growth areas such as participating in the sustainable aviation fuel value chain, first by planting feedstock for energy companies.