Uganda and Guyana Set December Target for Air Services Deal

Uganda and Guyana have agreed to conclude and sign an air services agreement in December 2026, putting a timetable on the next step in their aviation partnership. The plan follows a technical cooperation pact signed by their civil aviation authorities in Georgetown, Guyana, on October 2, according to Nile Post Uganda (direct). The December agreement is intended to establish a framework for air services between the two countries.

The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority signed the initial memorandum of understanding, a document setting out their planned cooperation. Olive Birungi Lumonya, Uganda’s deputy director general, signed alongside Guyana’s director general, retired Lieutenant Colonel Egbert Field. Uganda was also represented by Christopher Kasozi, its manager for economic regulation. The pact brings together the authorities responsible for overseeing the two countries’ civil aviation sectors.

Safety and skills come first

The immediate work centres on the systems behind air transport: how aviation is supervised, how staff are trained and how regulatory knowledge is shared. The memorandum provides for cooperation in managing, modernising and maintaining civil aviation systems. Its scope includes safety monitoring and oversight, with both authorities planning to share knowledge and adopt best practices rather than limiting the partnership to discussions about future air services.

Two areas identified are State Safety Programmes, which organise aviation safety work at national level, and Safety Management Systems, which provide a structured way to manage safety risks. The agreement also covers personnel licensing and training, as well as airworthiness—the fitness of aircraft to fly safely. These sit alongside efforts to strengthen the authorities themselves and develop their staff, making institutional capacity a central part of the arrangement.

The planned exchanges extend beyond documents and information. Experts and instructors can be deployed for training and technical missions, while the authorities can undertake joint studies and other mutually beneficial activities. According to the report, the partnership is expected to improve aviation safety, efficiency and regulatory standards in both countries. Those are the intended benefits of the cooperation, rather than results already delivered by the signing.

From regulatory cooperation to air services

Economic oversight of air transport is also included in the memorandum, giving the partnership a commercial dimension alongside its technical focus. The source describes the arrangement as groundwork for future commercial and economic ties between Uganda and Guyana through closer air transport cooperation. The technical pact and the planned air services agreement are distinct steps: one covers cooperation between regulators; the other is intended to provide a framework for services between the countries.

The next milestone is the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Air Services Negotiation Event, known as ICAN, scheduled for Equatorial Guinea in December 2026. Uganda and Guyana have agreed to conclude and sign their Bilateral Air Services Agreement there. That planned signing is the next development to watch as the two countries move from a framework for sharing expertise towards a framework for aviation connectivity.