Fly in Safaris in Uganda Pick Up

Fly in Safaris in Uganda Pick Up, The flying safaris in Uganda are picking up as many tourists opt to fly to the National parks than drive for long hours. Before 2012, a number of Uganda safaris were conducted by road transport yet the remote areas have dusty and bumpy roads. This was not comfortable for tourists with trip sickness. The charter flights were the only transport option used for travel by tourists who wanted exclusively private transport. This was very expensive to book and arrange.

The scheduled domestic daily flights to the Uganda National parks started in 2013 by Aerolink Uganda and this was the first of its kind. Aerolink staged its offices in Entebbe Airport. Later Fly Uganda also joined this daily domestic flight service operating from Kajjansi Airstrip.

At the start tourists visiting Uganda National parks were the main clients using the service of these scheduled airlines but with time even other travelers going up country book these flights. You just need to hire a transfer vehicle to pick you from the airstrip.

Each day, domestic flights from Entebbe to Kihihi Airstrip depart with minimum number of 2 passengers for the plane to take off. These facilitate those going for gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National park. Two return flight schedules are available per day that is in the morning and afternoon.

In order to reach Bwindi Impenetrable National park, you need a transfer vehicle and some of this can be arranged with lodges on ground. The drive may take about two hours to arrive at the park. In Bwindi impenetrable National Park you may get to see other primates like olive baboons, blue monkeys, grey cheeked mangabey, red tailed monkey, chimpanzees and other animals

Some flights also depart for Kisoro Airstrip at least once a day early morning flights only but are subject to the prevailing weather conditions and also attract a surcharge. This area receives heavy fog at times, which obstructs the pilots. Any one heading for Kisoro and surrounding areas especially Mgahinga National park going for gorilla trekking or others activities in the park can book these flights.

To the Uganda National parks in Northern Uganda, daily domestic scheduled flights depart Entebbe Airport or Kajjansi Airstrip to Bugungu Air strip or Pakuba Air strip.

Kidepo Valley National Park in North Eastern corner of the country, which was an isolated and very remote park, yet well-endowed national park in Uganda can easily be accessed using daily domestic flights. These flights operate 3 days in the week that is Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. These flights operate upon request with a minimum number of 7 people.

Kidepo valley national Park is famous for hosting uganda’s big carnivores including lions, leopards, bat eared fox, striped hyenas, aardwolf, cheetahs, spotted hyenas, black-backed and side-striped jackals and others, many angulates enjoy the park freebies like zebras, mountain reedbuck, Guenther’s dikdik, elephants, cape buffaloes, bush pigs, Rothschild giraffes and others.

Daily domestic flights operate from Entebbe to Murchison Falls National Park either Pakiba Airstrip or Bugungu Airstrip.  In case you are booked on a Uganda safari to Murchison Falls National Park, you must follow the check in time keenly so that you are not left behind. These return flights operate once in a day 

In Murchison Falls National Park, you may get to see lions, Rothschild giraffes, leopards, oribi, hartebeests, warthogs, cape Buffaloes, Uganda Kobs, Nile crocodiles, hippos, chimpanzees and others. The voyage to Murchison Falls National Park is incredibly amazing especially when you arrive at the mighty falls, where River Nile water squeeze through a narrow gorge to burst out and form a thundering sound. The majestic look of River Nile cascading down the 43 meters high plateau is amazing.

Even Flights from Entebbe to Mbarara then connect to Lake Mburo National park can be arranged. From here you may opt to Fly to Kihihi Airstrip to connect with Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. In Lake Mburo National Park you may get to see elands, Impalas, reedbuck, water bucks, zebras, elephants, Uganda Kobs and others. You may take part in activities like boat ride on Lake Mburo, horseback riding, birding and others.

Semliki National Park was one of the less visited national parks in Uganda but because of the daily flights  from Entebbe Airport that land in Semliki Airstrip, tourists are picking interest in visiting the virgin park. in Semliki national park are lots of primates including chimpanzees, black and white colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, central African red colobus, red tailed monkeys, olive baboons, Dent’ Mona monkeys, grey cheeked mangabey, bush baby, potto monkeys de Brazza’s monkeys and others. The famous Ssempaya hot springs that provide a super view of the riftvalley as you move down Buranga and so much more. This park is worth visiting if you want to see untampered with fauna and flora.

Anyone interested in flying from Entebbe directly to Masai Mara can now book there flights at Entebbe Airport on a daily basis. Even when you wish to fly from Masai Mara to Kihihi Airstrip, which is close to Bwindi Impenetrable national Park the Gorilla trekking destination, arrangements can be made any day of the week.

How Fast jet Launched Operations In Uganda And Why Exited

To connect uganda safari destinations to the rest of east Africa’s famous destinations including those around the ocean, flights like Fastjet launched there operation in uganda in 2015.  As explained below.

Fastjet  started its operate flights to Uganda. Fast Jet was to fly from Dar es salaam to Entebbe starting on 16th Sept 2014 and thus easing transport to and from Dar es salaam to Entebbe. On top of this route, Fastjet will as well fly to Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Mbeya, Johannesburg, Lusaka and Harare. The road trip connections between Uganda and Tanzania require someone to stay on the road for about two to three days driving over 1700km. 

According to their press release, flights from Entebbe to Dar es salaam were to be as low as USD50.00 excluding taxes and charges. They would be flying from Entebbe to Dar es salaam only on Tuesday and Thursday departing at 12:25hrs and arriving at 14:40hrs

This was very much welcomed as it would help bridge the gap left by precision air as well as competing with other regional airlines in order to cut the price down. Flights from Dar es salaam would depart at 10:00 and arrive in Entebbe at 11:45hrs. This therefore means that clients can as well connect with other charter or scheduled flight to visit national parks in Uganda such as Bwindi Impenetrable national Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park and Murchison Falls national Park to mention but a few.

During that year some airlines lost there permission to fly over Uganda air space. This change in the aviation sector of Uganda with Precision and Air Uganda being suspended while new companies joined the market as well. That loss of permission for those companies like the suspension of Air Uganda led to fare double from Entebbe International Airport to Nairobi thus affecting clients and tourists flying to Uganda.

Even amidst all this uncomfortable news, some new airlines companies were ready to join the Uganda Aviation team in that year. Some of these included  Aerolink which opened last 2013 making flying for safaris to Uganda National park very easy as it operates daily scheduled flights to popular National parks such as Bwindi Impenetrable national Park landing at either Kihihi or Kisoro airstrip, Queen Elizabeth National Park landing at Mweya Airstrip or Kasese, Murchison Falls National Park landing at Pakuba or Bugungu as well as in Semiliki

The effects of Covid 19 that swept the entire world affected the tourism sector worldwide and led to the closure of companies like Fastjet in Uganda. This pandemic lockdown led to closing off of major tourism destinations that most travelers from everywhere in the world loved to visit for fear of spreading the Corona Virus. This business loss sent many aviation companies packing and Fastjet was a victim too in Uganda.

This effect of Covid 19 doesn’t mean Uganda is off the airline travel grid as other companies like Fly Dubai also launched there business in Uganda post covid- 19. This opened more tourism door for Uganda from the Middle East.

How To Book Fly In Safari in Uganda

You must provide the dates when you wish to do your fly-in Uganda safari so that we can check for availability of a seat from the domestic airlines.

Once availability is got, our safari consultant gets back to you to confirm if a reservation can be made. Before payment is issued, this is taken as a tentative reservation and can be cancelled any time in case you fail to make payment.

Booking a seat for a fly in Uganda safari does not guarantee that you have completed your booking, you need to hire a transfer vehicle to your lodge because most airstrips upcountry are located some distance from the actual national park. For example Kihihi Air strip, which is the closest to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park home of the mountain gorillas is about 2 hours, drive to the main headquarters at Buhoma.

Note that for any flight to leave Entebbe airport or Kajjansi airstrip a minimum of 2 passengers must be on board.  During the peak seasons, the flights get sold out because of the high demand and even the local people going up country also book on these flights yet they are still few in the country. For that reason, you must reserve your seat in advance.

You have to later provide some personal details like your full names as per your passport, passport number, age, Nationality, Expiry date and others.

When your seat is booked you have to travel with baggage that meets the kilograms set by the Airline Company or face a surcharge.  Remember to report to the check in point early so that your seat is not sold off to those on waitlist.

When Is The Best Time To Book Fly in Safari in Uganda

Its best to reserve your seat at least 3 months in advance of travel just in case you are travelling during the tourism peak season that is June to September and December to January. This is to avoid chances of missing out on a plane seat or even being waitlisted.

Even during the shoulder seasons, flights may be over booked but it’s not so competitive as the peak seasons. Sometimes weather conditions also affect the domestic flights like to fly to Kisoro Airstrip, it must be in the morning and when visibility is clearer. This is because this area has heavy humid conditions and is so mountainous. These may obstruct the observation of the pilot.

What Is The Cost Of A fly in Safari in Uganda Pick Up

The cost of a fly-in Uganda safari varies according to where you want to go and the amount of baggage you have. The airline companies set free baggage allowance but in case you hold extra baggage, you are given a surcharge. Sometimes you may be required to use a bigger aircraft or small equipment depending on the number of people travelling with in your party.

In case you need to use charter services, you must book in advance and work on the required arrangements as per the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority guidelines. This for the more private Fly in Uganda safari travelers who wish to travel exclusively. Even with this arrangement, you need to book a transfer vehicle because aircrafts do not land in the national parks but in the airstrips close by.

With the conducive investment environment that has been observed over the last 36 years, more is expected and this will help in growing the tourism industry. This period has seen investment in Tour operations, Hotels and Lodges, improvement in Infrastructure as well as conservation on wildlife in protected areas. This is indeed good news for the tourism industry which is so far the highest foreign exchange earner of the country

Contact us to know more about Fly in Safaris in Uganda Pick Up and please check out our trip advisor.