Khartoum-based airlines BADR starts flights to Entebbe airport 

Uganda has got another player in the aviation industry after the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) licensed Khartoum-based BADR Airlines to operate the Entebbe-Juba-Khartoum route.

BADR made its maiden landing at Entebbe on Friday at 2:30 pm. It will operate one flight every week but according to UCAA, it is expected to double the flights by the end of the month.

At the reception to mark the occasion, were envoys to Kampala, Simon Deng (South Sudan) and Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed (Sudan) and officials from the aviation authorities of Uganda, South Sudan and Sudan.

UCAA director for airports and security Haji Ayub Soma commended the cordial relations among the three countries that had enabled a new player to come in. He said the opening of the new route was testimony that air transport remains the safest mode of transport in the region some of whose parts remain volatile.  

Soma assured the new airline of high safety and security standards and to offer its passengers quality facilitation “that meets expectations of good travellers’ experience.”

Ambassador Deng expressed hope that the new route would further improve the movement of people and goods in the region, a prerequisite for growth and development. He implored the company officials to think about employing South Sudan pilots to build their capacity and experience.

Ambassador Ibrahim Ahmed extolled the good relations among the three countries and hoped this would enable the expansion of trade and investment. The envoy added that the balance of trade between Sudan and Uganda was very small, less than $100 million every year, a situation that should be turned around.

BADR Airlines currently runs fourteen routes across the world, with one of them flying direct to Qatar and Heathrow, London.