Uganda Airlines suspends flights to Kinshasa amidst spreading chaos

January 28, 2025 in Companies, Transport, Travel & Tourism by Editor

Elgon, the Uganda Airlines A330-800 at the gate at Lagos Murtala Muhammad, on October 19, 2023

Uganda Airlines has suspended services to Kinshasa, indefinitely, following the eruption of violence that culminated the torching of Uganda House, the seat of the Ugandan mission there.

The flag carrier, which flies 5x a week to Kinshasa, said the suspension of flights had become necessary as it reviewed the volatile situation in the DRC capital.

“Flights will remain suspended until the situation on the ground normalizes,” the carrier said in a brief statement advising ticket holders to contact its Global Call Centre.

Speaking off record an airline official said it would be risky to fly into an environment where Ugandan property had become the target of calculated violence.

The Ugandan mission, alongside those of Rwanda, Kenya and France became targets of angry residents in the capital, following the fall of the provincial capital of Goma to rebels of the M23 Movement on Monday.

Videos circulating on social media showed chaotic scenes as irate Congolese ransacked and set sections of the embassy alight.

Officials in Kampala confirmed the violent turn of events but were yet to issue a statement on the matter.

The violent protests in Kinshasa follow weeks of inflammatory rhetoric by DRC government officials who accuse Rwanda and Uganda of supporting the rebels, who have taken control of Goma for the second time in 13 years.