UAE's national airline Etihad Airways strengthened its presence in East Africa region with the launch of new services between its hub Abu Dhabi and Entebbe, in central Uganda.

The inaugural flight EY645 departed the UAE capital at 7.50am and touched down at Entebbe International Airport on schedule at 12.50pm, where it was welcomed by a delegation comprising senior representatives from the airport, government officials and local dignitaries, said a statement from Etihad.

Operated by a two-class Airbus A320 aircraft with 16 business class and 120 economy class seats, the new service is designed to provide business and leisure travellers with a direct four-times-per-week service between Entebbe and Abu Dhabi, with convenient onward connections to key destinations in the GCC region, Europe, Indian Subcontinent, North Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia, it stated.

The new service also provides convenient access to the nearby Ugandan capital of Kampala, one of the fastest growing cities on the African continent and the centre of trade and commerce in the country.

Uganda has a total population of 40 million, and is the world's second most populous landlocked country after Ethiopia.

On the launch, James Hogan, the president and CEO, said: "Uganda is one of the continent’s fastest-growing business and tourism destinations, and the launch of services to Uganda is consistent with our strategy of targeting areas of strong growth in emerging markets."

"The UAE is a major trading partner with Uganda and our new point-to-point services strengthen the two-way flow of trade and commerce between the two countries. The flights are also scheduled to offer convenient onward connections, catering to strong traffic flows between Uganda and key destinations across our global network, such as Ahmedabad and Mumbai (India) or Beijing and Shanghai (China)," he stated.

“Not only does this service provide our guests with direct access to an exciting new business and tourism destination, it also further strengthens our presence in East Africa and across the African continent,” he added.

Etihad currently operates scheduled services to key destinations in Africa and the Indian Ocean, including: Cairo, Casablanca,  Johannesburg, Khartoum, Lagos, Nairobi besides Dar es Salaam flights which will be lanched in December and Mahé in the Seychelles.-TradeArabia News Service