Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday received the first two of four CRJ900 aircraft ordered by the Uganda National Airlines Company at Entebbe International Airport.

The planes received the customary water cannon salute, as new aeroplanes operating commercially for the first time.

The Bombardier CRJ900 planes will operate under the revived Uganda Airlines, following several unsuccessful attempts to start a local-based airline.

In 2018, President Museveni told Parliament that the government would revive Uganda’s defunct national carrier.

Uganda Airlines was established in May 1976 as the national carrier of Uganda. The airline was liquidated in 1990 after years of losses and mismanagement. Efforts to privatise it failed.

The two planes, ordered in July 2018, were officially handed over to the Ugandan government on April 16 in Quebec, Canada.

The third and fourth planes are expected to be delivered in July and September 2019 respectively.

The revived national carrier is expected to begin commercial flights in 90 days, first within the East African region before extending to other African countries.

During this period, the final stage of certification will be met with the training of cabin crew and marketing of the routes to be flown.

President of Bombardier, Alain Bellemare, said the planes will fly to South Africa on Wednesday on their first leg of marketing of that route.