Gulf Air’s restructuring and cost-cutting sees Entebbe axed

UGANDA (eTN) – When Gulf Air returned to Uganda on December 5 with 4 flights a week, much hope and expectation was raised in Ugandan aviation circles that new options had opened up, for visitors coming to Uganda from across the Gulf Air network and travelers from Uganda flying to Europe, the Gulf, to India, and beyond via Bahrain.

The current circumstances in Bahrain, however, seem to have taken their toll on forecasts and route projections, and it was just learned that effective February 21, the airline will have to halt their flights to Entebbe again, until economic circumstances once more allow the airline to return to the “Pearl of Africa” and better loads make the route financially more viable.

Having been on their flights recently, it is, therefore, with a sad note that I have to wish Gulf Air a very sad “Kwaheri ya Kuonana” (goodbye until we meet again) from Entebbe. The airline’s daily flights to and from Nairobi, however, continue, and it is understood that options are being explored between Gulf Air and Air Uganda to enter into an interline agreement so that those travelers who were instant converts as a result of the superior in-flight service on Gulf Air, can continue to fly with them, albeit for the time being via Nairobi.