While launching the flight at Entebbe International Airport, 40km south of the capital Kampala, Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, who represented President Yoweri Museveni, described the moment as joyous and historic given that the carrier had earlier collapsed in 2001.

“Each year, Ugandans were donating $450 million to other countries through foreign travel. Besides, there was a lot of inconvenience to travelling Ugandans by not having direct flights and even being charged discriminatively airfares,” Museveni said in his speech read by Rugunda.

The airline will first fly to seven destinations in the region and these include Nairobi (Kenya), Mogadishu (Somalia), Juba (South Sudan) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania); and then to Mombasa (Kenya), Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) and Bujumbura (Burundi).

“Uganda plays a critical role in the geopolitical and economic stability of East Africa as a region and as a nation, we are strategically placed to serve our neighbours,” Museveni said.

“There has never been a better time to commence commercial operations than now when passenger traffic is growing given the increasing demand for Uganda tourism, business opportunities and a peaceful environment created by the NRM Government,” he said. The NRM (National Resistance Movement) is the ruling political party in Uganda.

The country in April received two new CRJ900 Bombardier aircraft, with two more expected next month. The country also expects two airbuses in 2020

Opening special for City Lodge Hotel Dar es Salaam valid from 17 November 2018 to 28 February 2019 is as follows, quoting promocode NOWOPEN:
– 15% Midweek discount, from Monday to Thursday
– 25% Weekend discount, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday
– Special rates: Midweek – 1 pax: USD 148 and 2 pax: USD 187; Weekend – 1 pax: USD 132 and 2 pax: USD 165
– Discount bookable on www.clhg.com and direct with the hotel quoting promocode NOWOPEN

Standard room rates, not on special, are: 1 pax: USD 175 and 2 pax: USD 220.

The newest hotel in the Group is located on the corner of Magore and Vijibweni Street in Upanga, 13km by road from Julius Nyerere International Airport and close to the city centre, embassies, Aura Mall, Botanical Garden, National Museum and other cultural and social points of interest.

The hotel features three boardrooms, with Boardroom 1 accommodating up to 18 pax and Boardrooms 2 and 3 up to 10 pax each (these rooms open into one space). City Lodge Hotel Group’s own brand #Café restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and light evening meals and there is a sundowner bar and swimming pool for outdoor relaxation. The hotel has wireless Internet access, a fitness room and 24-hour reception and check-in services.

Rooms are spacious and air-conditioned, with queen or twin beds and one suite with an interleading room. Interleading rooms are available. Five rooms are equipped to meet the needs of guests with reduced physical ability. Other in-room features include: television with selected DSTV channels, bathroom with shower (bath in selected rooms), tea and coffee making facilities, electronic safe large enough to fit a laptop, and a desk with lighting and plugs for easy connectivity.

The City Lodge Hotel Group has grown its footprint in Africa considerably, having opened 147-room Town Lodge Windhoek in Namibia; 104-room Town Lodge Gaborone in Botswana; and 171-room City Lodge Hotel at Two Rivers, Nairobi in Kenya in 2018. These add to the Group’s existing properties in Kenya, the 84-room Town Lodge Upper Hill, Nairobi and the 120-room Fairview Hotel, Nairobi. Construction is underway on the 148-room City Lodge Hotel Maputo in Mozambique, expected to open in 2019.

In South Africa, construction is underway on the 154-room Town Lodge Umhlanga Ridge in KwaZulu-Natal and City Lodge Hotel at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg recently added on 62 additional rooms. Once the new hotels are fully operational, the group will offer 7,902 rooms at 62 hotels in six countries in East Africa and Southern Africa.

CEO Andrew Widegger says, “By obtaining a detailed understanding of our continent, we will be able to introduce the same quality product our guests have grown to love in South Africa to other African countries.”

“As part of an ongoing review of network performance, Etihad Airways will suspend flights from Abu Dhabi to Dar es Salaam, effective October 1, 2018,” the airline replied to a question by The Citizen through its Twitter account on 19 June.

After October 1, travellers from Tanzania’s commercial capital will re-routed through Kenya Airways to Nairobi and then connected through Etihad to Abu Dhabi.

The Airline launched its first flights to Tanzania in December 2015. Dar es Salaam was the airline’s third gateway in East Africa, along with Nairobi in Kenya, and Entebbe in Uganda.

The network review is part of the company-wide initiatives taken to revive business following second consecutive year of loss-making.

Last week, the state-owned airline announced to have narrowed its annual loss by 22 per cent to $1.52 billion for 2017, compared with a loss of $1.95 billion recorded in 2016.

According to news sources the project, will cost more than $300 million and once complete will add 24 parking bays for large aircraft and boost annual passenger-handling capacity to 6 million from 2.5 million, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

Airlines that use Tanzania’s main airport include KLM, Emirates, Swiss International Air Lines, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines. Tanzania relies on the relatively more developed Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Kenya to receive some of its tourists because some major airlines, including British Airways, do not fly to its airports.

The project suffered a long delay after President John Magufuli ordered an investigation in February last year due into project costs and construction schedules.

Travellers can look forward to complimentary hot coffee served up alongside free high speed WiFi connectivity. Auric Air’s passengers can relax in the lounge’s couches and catch up on their choice of local news publications, or use our charging station to get their mobile devices ready to go.

For business travellers, this is a great place to work in peace.