By Spy Uganda
Buy Uganda-Build Uganda policy is a must for Uganda Airlines’ Executive Director Jennifer Bamuturaki who has announced that grasshoppers, a local delicacy will soon be served aboard flights to various destinations, although she was quick to add -“on demand”.
Bamuturaki revealed the good news on while addressing the trade representatives, MDA’s and private sector officials, at the Annual Trade Representative Forum (TRF) at the office of the prime minister on Wednesday.
Organized by the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID) headed by Odrek Rwabwogo, Trade Representatives Forum brings together trade representatives from various parts of the world, allowing them to network, learn and build strategies with Uganda’s private sector.
Bamuturaki’s move to put grasshoppers on the menu follows a demand that was seen in November 2021 when a passenger aboard a Uganda Airline flight no 446 to Dubai was seen hawking grasshoppers among the passengers who looked so interested in eating them, although it caused controversy over its packaging.
Bamuturaki and the Executive Director Uganda Bureau of Standards David Livingstone Ebiru said the Nsenene and other local foods will continue to be served as favorite dishes to travelers after being cleared by UNBS, as many countries continue embracing Uganda’s Airline with new routes across the world.
The idea comes at a time when the Airline’s number of passengers is growing which recently triggered inking an interline agreement with flag carrier South African Airways (SAA) to shore up traffic on its Entebbe-Johannesburg route and to tap into the wider southern Africa market.
The carrier added a fifth flight to the service starting March 1, to plug leakages of traffic to competitors and to support a burgeoning cargo business.
Uganda Airlines which started its commercial operations in 2019 currently operates a fleet of four (4) CRJ900 and two (2) Airbus A330-800neo.
Despite COVID-19 disruptions, the national carrier carried 154,245 passengers in 2021 compared to 93,780 in 2019 and 2020 combined.
The National Carrier has expanded its network to over 11 destinations since its inception.
