Uganda Airlines (UR, Entebbe) will begin taking delivery of its first new aircraft in early 2019, Ugandan Minister for Works and Transport, Monica Azuba, has announced.

Speaking in Kampala during an official unveiling ceremony for the start-up carrier, Azuba said the first of four CRJ900s from Bombardier Aerospace (BBA, Montréal Trudeau) would arrive in January followed by the remaining three over the following three months. Two A330-800s will deliver from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) in 2020, she added.

Though she gave no inkling as to when the project would launch, State Minister for Planning, David Bahati, has said that he expects it to commence operations between March and April 2019.

Azuba said the Ugandan government, which is backing the Uganda Airlines project, has already paid commitment fees of USD400,000 and USD800,000 to Bombardier and Airbus respectively. However, while the CRJ contract has been finalized with Bombardier, that with Airbus is yet to be concluded.