Uganda's solo airline operator Victoria International Airlines (VIA) is to re-launch its maiden flight on Thursday after a brief delay to obtain the clearance from Kenyan authorities, an official said here on Tuesday.

 

An official who preferred anonymity told Xinhua that VIA is now set to fly to Nairobi after it acquired the permit from Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).

 

"We have just got the permit from KCAA and on Thursday morning we will be making our maiden flight," the official said.

 

The highly touted VIA inaugural flight to Nairobi failed to take off on Monday morning after KCAA denied the permit allowing the airliner to land at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi.

 

Declan Peppard, VIA's commercial manager told reporters, who were booked on the maiden flight, that KCAA had cited a glitch in the airline's landing request which needed to be sorted out by Uganda's CAA.

 

VIA is a Ugandan registered airline, of which the Ugandan government has 20 percent shares while Swiss and South African investors own the rest.

 

It is the latest entrant in the region's competitive airline sector which has been dominated by the Kenyan Airlines.

 

According to the airline officials, VIA anticipates gaining a big share of the market by offering a competitive promotional package, US$138 for return ticket between Entebbe and Nairobi, the lowest in the region.

 

The carrier has also been cleared to fly out of Entebbe to Johannesburg by the South African aviation authorities for three flights a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

 

The VIA, which will have VB as its airline identification code, will initially operate two Boeing 737-200s leased from a South African company.

 

The carrier will fly to Juba, southern Sudan, four times a week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

 

Uganda had not had a national airline since the liquidation of Uganda Airlines in early 2001 followed by a couple of failed attempts by other airlines to fill the void.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 29, 2006)