Vanita Kayiwa, is a Ugandan
airline transport pilot, who serves as a first officer at
Uganda National Airlines Company
Uganda Airlines is the flag carrier of Uganda. The company is a revival of the older Uganda Airlines which operated from 1977 until 2001. The current carrier began flying in August 2019.
Location
The company headquarters are located withi ...
, Uganda's national carrier airline, on the
A330-841 aircraft, since February 2021.
Before that, effective April 2019, she served as a first officer on the
CRJ 900
The Bombardier CRJ700, CRJ900, and CRJ1000 are a family of regional jet airliners that were designed and manufactured by Canadian transportation conglomerate Bombardier (formerly Canadair) between 1999 and 2020. Their design was derived from t ...
equipment, at the same airline.
Background and education
She was born in Buziga, a neighborhood in
Makindye Division Makindye Division is one of the five administrative divisions of Kampala, the capital of Uganda, and the largest city in that country. The city's five divisions are: (a) Kampala Central Division (b) Kawempe Division (c) Lubaga Division (d) Makindye ...
, in
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...
, Uganda's capital and largest city. She obtained her
Commercial pilot licence A commercial pilot licence (CPL) is a type of pilot licence that permits the holder to act as a pilot of an aircraft and be paid for their work.
Different licenses are issued for the major aircraft categories: airplanes, airships, balloons, glid ...
from the
East African Civil Aviation Academy, in
Soroti
Soroti is a city in Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main City, commercial, and administrative center in curved out of Soroti District, one of the nine administrative districts in the Teso sub-region. Soroti City was immediately approved f ...
, in the
Eastern Region of Uganda.
More recently, she has successfully completed type rating training on the
CRJ900
The Bombardier CRJ700, CRJ900, and CRJ1000 are a family of regional jet airliners that were designed and manufactured by Canadian transportation conglomerate Bombardier (formerly Canadair) between 1999 and 2020. Their design was derived from t ...
at
CAE Phoenix, in
Mesa, Arizona
Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the most populous city in the East Valley (Phoenix metropolitan area), East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is bordered by ...
, United States. In 2019, she was a member of the cockpit crew that piloted the inaugural flight from
Entebbe International Airport
Entebbe International Airport is the only international airport in Uganda. It is located about southwest of the town of Entebbe, on the northern shores of Lake Victoria. This is approximately by road south-west of the central business distric ...
to
Kilimanjaro International Airport
Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) is an international airport located in Hai District, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. The airport serves the cities of Arusha and Moshi. The airport handled 802,731 passengers in 2014 and mainly serves reg ...
, on the CRJ900.
In 2020, she was among the pilots selected to train on the A330-800 aircraft. She successfully completed the type rating training at Airbus Training Centre in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, during the fourth quarter of that year.
Career
Kayiwa has spent most of her flying career at
Air Serv Limited, piloting
Cessna 208 Caravan
The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna.
The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982.
The production model was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA ...
s. She first flew as a
first officer, before she was promoted to
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
on the Cessna 208, in 2016. She is the first Ugandan woman to make captain at Air Serv Limited, since that airline was founded in 1987.
In April 2019, she was hired by Uganda National Airlines Company, as one of a small number of female pilots at the airline.
She was part of the cockpit crew that made the inaugural flight between Entebbe, Uganda (EBB) and Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (KIA), in 2019.
As of February 2021, she was one of the five female pilots at Uganda Airlines, out of a total of 50 aviators. At that time, she and
Tina Drazu were the only two female pilots who were part of the cockpit crew on the
A330-841 equipment at Uganda Airlines.
See also
*
Michael Etiang
*
Tina Drazu
*
Rita Nasirumbi
*
Esther Mbabazi
Notes
References
External links
UTB ready to work with Uganda Airlines to promote country – AjarovaAs of 23 April 2019.
Brief ProfileMeet The Two Women Pilots Flying The Uganda Airlines A330-800neo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kayiwa, Vanita
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Ugandan aviators
Women aviators
People from Kampala
People from Central Region, Uganda
East African Civil Aviation Academy alumni
Ganda people
Commercial aviators
Women commercial aviators