UNEMPLOYMENT SHOCKER: 12,000 Apply For 500 Uganda Airlines Jobs

At least 12,000 people have applied for jobs in the revived national carrier, Uganda Airlines.

The revelation was made by David Kakuba, the Executive Director of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) yesterday while appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Physical Infrastructure to present the 2019/2020 Ministerial Policy Statement for the Works sector. He had accompanied the State Minister of Works, Aggrey Bagiire.

Kakuba noted that the recruitment of staff in Uganda Airlines started in September 2018 and over 12,000 applications were received; they are being sorted out.

However, many applicants will undoubtedly be left out because the national carrier is expected to employ about 500 people in the first five years of operation.

According to the feasibility study of Uganda Airlines by the National Planning Authority, “The airline will provide jobs to about 300 employees for regional operations and about 139 employees for international operations within a five year period.”

It adds:“Within the first year of operation, the airline will create about 225 direct jobs which will extend to about 299 jobs in its fifth year of operations for regional operations and 139 employees for international operations.

Following Government decision to re-establish Uganda Airlines as the national carrier of the Republic of Uganda based at Entebbe International Airport, the Airline in September last year invited applications for a number of jobs in preparation for the launch planned to take place early 2019.

Vacancies advertised include; Specialist experience in flight operations, cabin operations, engineering, ground handling, sales and marketing, revenue management, finance, human resources, safety and security, and other aviation related disciplines, depending on the skill set of each position.

Uganda Airlines will operate scheduled and non-scheduled passenger and cargo flights to destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, as it expands its network across the world.

Uganda like many other developing countries is grappling with high unemployment levels especially among the youth.

Official figures indicate that over 400,000 young people enter Uganda’s job market annually, for a mere 9,000 new jobs each year.

Entebbe Expansion

Kakuba revealed that CAA is looking for more land to expand Entebbe airport, arguing that the move will enable the upcoming Uganda Airlines to get its own terminal.

He also revealed that Uganda Airlines aircrafts have been registered by the Civil Aviation Authority and will come to Uganda on 23^rd April 2019.

“When you look at Entebbe International airport, it is sort of a peninsula but the land that is there is very small. We are locked up there and the Entebbe Local Government allocated small pieces and even if we try to get land, they tell us to pay billions to get those small pieces. If we could have more land, we could even be able to construct an independent Uganda Airlines terminal because in CAA, we are very hopeful that with the coming in of Uganda Airlines, we need to also shine as an international airport with our own terminal,” he said.