Uganda Airlines has been announced as the winner of Africa’s Youngest Aircraft Fleet 2023.
The announcement was made by ch-Aviation on January 23,2023.
This win follows a series of awards in the last 2 years where Uganda Airlines was named the world’s youngest aircraft fleet for 2021 and 2022.
Uganda Airlines is Uganda’s flagship national passenger and cargo carrier that started in 2019. It provides scheduled air transportation services in East Africa and near-international markets.
The CH-aviation Youngest Aircraft Fleet Award recognises airlines across the globe which maintains young, modern, and efficient aircraft. Airlines dedicated to keeping their fleet young with new-generation aircraft contribute significantly to decreasing CO2 emissions within the aviation industry and help achieve better fuel efficiency.
To determine which airlines currently operate the youngest aircraft fleets, ch-aviation maintains an extensive aircraft database consisting of more than 4,800 active operators, more than 69,000 aircraft, and 1,000 lessors worldwide.
“Uganda Airlines wins “ch-aviation Africa’s Youngest Aircraft Fleet 2023” for the third year in arow. They are also ranked fifth in the list of the world’s youngest aircraft fleets in 2023. We at ch-aviation congratulate them for being environmentally conscious. This is a feat worth celebrating!” Thomas Jaeger, Founder, Owner, and Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Jenifer Bamuturaki, Uganda Airlines CEO, thanked CH-Aviation for this recognition and for shining a light on emerging Airlines.
“We are proud of our fleet and that it is environmentally compatible with our sustainability initiatives. We are also aware that we need to utilise our fleet more through our network expansion plan.
2023 plans
In an interview with the Observer, Bamuturaki revealed that the airline is in plans to launch its own cargo structure.
“We have greatly been relying on third parties for operations but our newfound independence allows us to operate with established international organizations to manage our routes,” she said.
Last November, Uganda Airlines took over ground handling from Das Handling and since then, the airline became self-handling. Bamuturaki, who in December was elected the President of the Africa Airlines Association (AFRAA) for 2023, reasoned that the fact that the airline is now managing most of its costs, it has become more independent and planning has become clearer.
ALSO READ: How Uganda Airlines is cracking the gender class ceiling.
She, however, noted that as a matter of urgency, the airline needs to improve its revenues through other aspects like cargo handling.
“Ground handling has provided us some independence to be in control of our operations but we also need to handle cargo in order to be fully operational as an airline,” she noted.
Bamuturaki added that, “We have greatly been relying on third parties for operations but our newfound independence allows us to operate with established international organizations to manage our routes.”
