Uganda has granted Middle Eastern carrier flydubai rights to pick up local traffic between Entebbe and Bujumbura, further heightening competition in the regional air transport market.

Flydubai’s entry brings to two the number of direct point-to-point airlines between Entebbe and Dubai.

The other is Qatar which was granted similar rights between Entebbe and Kigali in 2012.

The airline will operate a daily service between Entebbe and Dubai, with three onward connections a week to Bujumbura and two to Kigali, where services started on September 27.

“Our Bilateral Air Services Agreement with Dubai provides for open skies so we can have unlimited services on the route,” said Uganda’s Minister for Works Abraham Byandala on September 30 at a ceremony to mark flydubai’s inaugural flight to Entebbe and Bujumbura.

The granting of traffic rights to Bujumbura is likely to be felt by RwandAir, which had been the only convenient option from Entebbe to Bujumbura after Ugandan authorities grounded Air Uganda three months ago.

READ: Air Uganda pulls out after three months grounding

Coming on the heels of the recent launch of services to Kigali and the announcement of three new routes to Tanzania (Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar), Entebbe becomes flydubai’s 12th destination in Africa.

Responding to questions about the viability of the service to Entebbe in what has now become a much contested marketplace, flydubai chief commercial officer Hamad Obaidalla said it is part of the carrier’s strategy of targeting underserved airports, and would grow new, rather than cannibalise existing traffic especially given the great potential for trade and tourism.

Those remarks, however, did little to reassure competitors who immediately moved in with additional perks for passengers.

Kenya Airways upgraded some of its services to Entebbe to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and increased the free baggage allowance to 46 kilogrammes from 30 for economy class passengers, while those on business class got an additional 24 kilogrammes over the current 40kg.

Kenya Airways’ commercial director Gerard Clarke said the new baggage policy is meant to address passengers’ changing needs.

“Today’s passenger is tech-savvy and in most cases requires more cabin baggage allowance to cater for their smart gadgets. The increase in free checked-in baggage allowance is also in response to feedback from our guests and reaffirms our commitment to constantly delight our guests by aligning our services to suit their preferences and needs,” Mr Clarke said.

Industry players saw the additional weight allowance as a response to the $399 and $1,100 economy and business class all-inclusive entry fares that flydubai is offering to Dubai.

However, constrained by the small gauge aircraft it is operating, flydubai will not be able to match KQ’s offer without encountering serious economic and operational limitations.

It is believed KQ was also responding to low-cost carrier FastJet’s expansion into Uganda late September, which threatens to take away a significant chunk of transit traffic between Entebbe and Dar es Salaam.

READ: Fastjet, flydubai scramble for growing aviation sector

KQ’s business to Dubai is also under attack from the growth of Middle Eastern airlines that have increased frequencies to Tanzania. Emirates has gone double daily out of Dar es Salaam while another carrier from Dubai, Etihad, plans services to Dar and Entebbe starting 2015.

Recently, the airlines business in Africa has suffered a dent from the suspension of flights to West Africa over the Ebola outbreak while international arrivals are also hurting following negative travel advisories by Western governments.

Dutch flag carrier KLM and Brussels Airline, Belgium’s flag carrier, are also set to increase capacity on their routes to East Africa starting this month.

Brussels Airline plans to offer two more weekly flights on the Nairobi-Brussels route bringing the overall number to five per week, starting October 26 and additional weekly flights to Bujumbura and Kigali.

KLM on the other hand will add three non-stop flights a week from Europe to Dar es Salaam and Entebbe by delinking its services from Kilimanjaro and Kigali airports.  The two destinations will be linked by Kigali-Kilimanjaro flights four days a week.

By Michael Wakabi and Isaac Khisa