At nearly Shs 2 million, taking a domestic flight within Uganda may cost a passenger more than purchasing an air ticket from Entebbe to New York, which is more than 11,000kms away if cost per mile is put into consideration.
A return ticket from Entebbe to New York can cost as low as $900 (Shs 3.2 million) whereas a flight from Kajjansi to Kisoro in southern Uganda in Kisoro costs as much as $500 (about Shs 1.8 million).
And, at such high pricing, coupled with low disposal incomes, there has been slow growth and domestic air travel in Uganda according to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
CAA director for airports and aviation security, engineer John Kagoro Tusubira, said while the potential for domestic air travel exists, many a Ugandan can not afford domestic air tickets.
According to Tusubira, because of poverty and low demand for local air travel, the operational costs become too high for air companies hence making domestic travel very expensive.
“The failure is not because there are no aircrafts, the failure is lack of disposable incomes really. Going for example to Kisoro, the ticket costs $500. How many people can afford that? For most people, time is not calculated as money. If you know there is nothing to do, you can take over 10 hours (on road) to go to Kisoro”, said Tusubira.
The nearly Shs 2 million cost for an air ticket to Kisoro is way above what most Ugandans earn in wages per month. Government data puts citizens living below poverty line or on less than Shs 7,000 a day at 19.7 percent. The World Bank, on the other hand, puts the figure at over 33 percent.
Regionally, abject poverty is more intense in the North – at nearly 80 percent and in the East at over 70 percent. On the state of airstrips in Uganda, Tusubira said significant progress has been made in improving the major ones in Arua, Gulu, Soroti, Nakasongola and Kasese.
Uganda has just one airport serving both as the domestic and international airport. If completed, Hoima would become the second international airport. In CAA’s 20-year master plan to 2033, Arua, Gulu and Kasese aerodromes are expected to be upgraded into international airports
