The four-times-weekly UR900 service via Lagos adds an East–West Africa connection. Tourism authorities are looking to turn the new link into visitor demand and business partnerships, including ahead of AFCON 2027.
Uganda Airlines has inaugurated UR900, a four-times-weekly service linking Entebbe and Accra via Lagos. The route began on 27 October, with a Boeing 737-800 wet-leased from Ethiopian Airlines. The inaugural flight was received at Kotoka International Airport by government and aviation officials, while Uganda’s Minister of Works and Transport, Fred Byamukama, had flagged it off at Entebbe.
The service stops in Lagos before continuing to Accra, extending Uganda Airlines’ existing West African operations. Ghana has also granted the airline fifth-freedom traffic rights for the Lagos–Accra sector, allowing it to carry passengers and cargo between the two cities as part of the Entebbe route.
“This is not just an ordinary flight,” Byamukama said at the inaugural reception. He said the new connection would reduce reliance on longer journeys through other hubs and support trade, tourism and investment between the countries. Ghana’s Transport Minister, Joseph Bukari Nikpe, also welcomed the service, calling for stronger air links to help people and businesses move across African markets.
Uganda Airlines Chief Executive Officer Girma Wake said the four weekly flights are a starting point, with the airline aiming to increase frequencies as demand grows. “For Uganda Airlines, coming four times a week to Ghana, to Accra, is not the end game,” he said. Ghana Airports Company Limited Managing Director Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare said the service would expand passenger options and support tourism, cultural exchange, trade and economic cooperation.
The Uganda Tourism Board said the route creates opportunities to work with Ghanaian travel agents and tour operators, attract visitors and encourage business travellers to extend their stays in Uganda. “Over the next 2 days, we will showcase the Explore Uganda brand and build partnerships that translate this connectivity into visitor interest, bookings and investment,” the Board said, describing planned engagements with the Ghana Tourism Authority and business-to-business meetings.
Gilbert Abeiku Aggrey, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority, framed the launch as a wider call for Africans to travel across the continent. “Africa must not only trade with Africa; Africa must travel within Africa, discover Africa, experience Africa and invest in Africa,” he said.
Aggrey pointed to the complementary tourism offers of the two countries and encouraged tour operators to develop joint itineraries connecting West and East Africa. Ghana’s heritage, festivals, cuisine and creative industries offer experiences for Ugandan visitors; Uganda’s wildlife, gorilla trekking, landscapes and cultural traditions can attract travellers from Ghana.
The connection also comes as Uganda prepares to co-host AFCON 2027 with Kenya and Tanzania. Aggrey said the route presents an opportunity to attract Ghanaian and other West African football fans to Uganda during the tournament. The Uganda Tourism Board’s planned trade engagements will be one way to develop that interest into travel partnerships.
The launch brings the airline, tourism authorities and travel trade together around a shared task: turning improved access into sustained travel between the two countries.
