Vanita Kayiwa: Uganda Airlines Female Pilot Flying The Giant Airbus

First Officer Vanita Kayiwa

Ugandan women are rising in top positions in various areas.

In aviation industry, women are doing a great job. Vanita Kayiwa, a First Officer (also known as second pilot in aviation) at Uganda Airlines is making Uganda proud globally.

Kayiwa graduated from the East African Civil Aviation Academy in 2012.

She hit the skies with her first opportunity with Ndege Juu, a company based in Addis Ababa, flying the Pilatus PC12 high performance single engine turbo prop.

After amassing experience, she joined Air Serv limited in 2013 where she flew for 5 years on the Cessna Caravan 208, becoming one of the few handful female Captains on the well respected aircraft. She gained over 2000 hours as pilot in command, working in very challenging environments in West Africa, DRC, South Sudan among others.

For her hard work and commitment on the job, Kayiwa was among one of three female pilots then selected to join the relaunched Uganda National Airlines in 2019.

With vivid focus and passion for the job, she has since gone on to successfully complete type rating training on the CRJ900 at CAE Phoenix , Arizona and was part of the crew that took part in the inaugural flight to Kilimanjaro, on the CRJ in 2019.

With introduction of the A330 Fleet, she was among the pilots selected to train on the aircraft and successfully completed the type rating training at Airbus Training Centre in Miami, Florida in late 2020.

An enthusiastic aviator, self driven,and calm, Kayiwa has adapted well to the airline environment and will no doubt continue to prove her worth in the years to come as a valued member of the energetic team of professionals, who are committed to connecting our customers to their dreams, through the skies with the CRANE.

Summary About Vanita Kayiwa

Fleet: A330

Position: First Officer

Total Time : Over 4,000 hours

Total Jet Time: Over 400 hours

Total Jet Command : N/A

Qualifications : ICAO Airline Transport Pilots License (Uganda ) , commercial pilots license (South Africa )

Commercial Aircraft Flown: Cessna Caravan 208, CRJ900.