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Bachelor of Science in Aviation, Travel and Airline Services Management

Uganda Airlines is rebuilding a national carrier, Entebbe is expanding, African aviation is projected to double in two decades, and every airline, airport, ground handler and travel company in the region reports the same shortage of people who understand aviation services as a managed, regulated, ...

BSc (Hons)Hybrid3 years (6 semesters)Intake August 2027132 credit units

Employment thesis

What this programme is designed to produce

Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2032.

Roles

  • Airline customer services and station manager track
  • airport operations officer
  • ground handling and ramp services supervisor
  • air cargo and logistics officer
  • travel agency and distribution manager
  • airline revenue
  • sales and network analyst
  • aviation safety and quality officer
  • travel technology and product specialist
  • cabin services management track
  • travel entrepreneur

Employer types

  • Forward University · School of Hospitality
  • Culinary Arts and Tourism · Curriculum Volume Airlines and national carriers
  • airports and airport authorities
  • ground handling and cargo companies
  • travel agencies
  • online travel platforms and tour operators
  • civil aviation regulators
  • aviation training organisations
  • hotel groups and airport hospitality
  • the graduate's own travel venture
  • and the graduate's own venture
  • incubated through the Forward Venture Studio

Target outcomes we hold ourselves to

  • This programme targets management track roles in airlines, airports, ground services and the travel trade across Africa and the Gulf, and supports travel ventures. Progression routes include the School's masters programmes and doctoral study.

Compulsory · The Forward Core

How the Core works →

Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.

  • AI Fluency
  • Quantitative Reasoning
  • Ethics and African Context
  • Human-Advantage Skills
  • Enterprise

Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning

Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4. Read the co-op commitment

Am I eligible?

Check yourself against the published requirements

7 questions written specifically for Bachelor of Science in Aviation, Travel and Airline Services Management. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.

Question 1 of 70%

What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?

Requirement tested: A completed upper-secondary qualification (UACE, A-level, IB, high-school diploma or recognised equivalent), or a post-secondary award.

Curriculum structure

The same degree, in both pathways

Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.

Path One term plan shown

Path One · The Term Model

TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 22Year 1
22 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 101
AI Fluency I: How Intelligent Systems Work
Both
42-2-0
BATA 110
Foundations of the Aviation and Travel Industry
Both
53-2-2
BATA 111
Airline Customer Service and the Passenger Journey
Both
53-2-2
BATA 112
Aviation Practicum I: Airport and Airline Operations Simulation
Performance
42-2-4
BATA 113
Aviation Geography, Data and Statistics
Both
42-2-2
TERM 2 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 2 | YEAR 1 | 22Year 1
22 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 102
Quantitative Reasoning and Evidence
Both
42-2-0
BATA 130
Airport Operations and Ground Handling
Both
53-2-2
BATA 131
Travel Distribution, Fares and Global Distribution Systems
Both
53-2-2
BATA 132
Aviation Practicum II: Ground Services and Cargo Operations
Performance
42-2-4
BATA 133
Aviation Safety, Security and Regulation
Both
42-2-2
COP 190
Workplace Immersion (4 weeks, recessterm)
Performance
00-0-0
TERM 3 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 2, SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 2 | 22Year 2
22 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 201
Ethics, Society and the African Context
Both
42-2-0
BATA 210
Air Cargo and Aviation Logistics
Both
53-2-2
BATA 211
Airline Economics, Revenue and Network Management
Both
53-2-2
BATA 212
Aviation Practicum III: Disruption and Crisis Management
Performance
42-2-4
BATA 213
Aviation Law and International Regulation Forward University · School of Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Tourism · Curriculum Volume
Both
42-2-2
TERM 4 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 2, SEMESTER 2 | YEAR 2 | 22Year 2
22 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 202
Human Advantage: Argument, Writing and Teams
Both
42-2-0
COP 290
Co-operative Education Placement I (6 months)
Performance
100-0-0
BATA 230
Travel Technology and Intelligent Aviation Operations
Both
53-2-2
BATA 231
Tourism, Hospitality and Airport Commercial Services
Performance
31-2-2
TERM 5 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 3, SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 3 | 22Year 3
22 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 301
AI Fluency II: Building, Evaluating and Auditing
Both
42-2-0
FDC 401
/402 Capability Portfolio, Governance and Day One Block
Both
62-2-2
BATA 310
Aviation Human Factors, Teams and Leadership
Both
53-2-2
BATA 311
Aviation Specialisation Elective
Performance
42-2-4
BATA 312
Aviation Capstone: Improve a Real Airline or Airport Process
Both
31-2-2
TERM 6 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 3, SEMESTER 2 | YEAR 3 | 22Year 3
22 credit units
CodeCourseCUHours
FDC 302
Enterprise, Forward University · School of Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Tourism · Curriculum Volume Employability and Financial Literacy
Both
42-2-0
COP 390
Co-operative Education Placement II (6 months)
Performance
100-0-0
BATA 330
Professional Practice and Aviation Services Leadership
Performance
82-2-8

Total credit units: 132

Curriculum source

Forward University Curriculum Compendium

Assessment

Assessment follows Part E without variation. Across the programme the aggregate weighting is 35 per cent continuous assessment and built artefacts, 25 per cent authentic performance including practical examination and oral defence, 30 per cent external practitioner assessment in the final year, and not more than 40 per cent written examination in any single course. The capstone is client verified and the Day One Assessment contributes 5 per cent of the final year mark. Assessment principles. Assessment is authentic, criterion referenced and, for every capability claim above Level 2, verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer. There is no compensation between competencies: a student must master each one, Forward University · School of Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Tourism · Curriculum Volume and a marginal performance in one cannot be offset by strength in another. Feedback is returned quickly, within seven days of a block closing in the Block Sequence, so that it can inform the next unit. A student who does not yet meet the standard is given a further, structured attempt under Part E rather than being carried forward, which protects the value of the award while supporting progression. Reasonable adjustments for disability are made under Part D without altering the competency standard.

Work-integrated learning

Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4.

Your week at Forward

A typical week on Bachelor of Science in Aviation, Travel and Airline Services Management

Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Mandatory live session Flexible bite-sized lesson Optional event

Curriculum explorer

Drill into the degree, step by step

Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.

Step 1, choose a year

Step 2, choose a term

TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 22

Year 1 · this step is worth 22 CU

Cumulative

22

Programme total

132

22 CU of 132 CU completed by the end of this step (17%)

Step 3, choose a course

Pick a course to see the detail

Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.

The twelve Forward capabilities

What this programme develops in you

Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.

  • C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
  • C2Quantitative and Evidential ReasoningLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C3Ethical and Contextual Judgement CriticalLevel 3 of 4, Independent
  • C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C5Disciplinary Mastery CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C6Technical Production and CraftLevel 3 of 4, Independent
  • C7Problem Framing and Systems ThinkingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary Teaming CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial LiteracyLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive Capacity CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
  • C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 3 of 4, Independent

Critical capabilities for this programme: Ethical and Contextual Judgement · Disciplinary Mastery · Collaboration and Multidisciplinary Teaming · Learning to Learn and Adaptive Capacity. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.

Programme Learning Outcomes

What you will be able to do

Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.

  1. PLO 1Manage airline customer operations and the passenger journey to international service standards.
  2. PLO 2Run airport, ground handling and ramp operations safely and on time.
  3. PLO 3Manage air cargo and aviation logistics.
  4. PLO 4Apply aviation safety management, security and regulation to ol of Hospitality, Culinary Arts and operations.
  5. PLO 5Sell, distribute and price travel through global distribution and digital channels.
  6. PLO 6Analyse airline network, revenue and performance data to support decisions.
  7. PLO 7Apply intelligent systems to operations, disruption management and customer service.
  8. PLO 8Lead multicultural operational teams under time and safety pressure.
  9. PLO 9Cost, pitch and defend a travel product or aviation services venture.
  10. PLO 10Acquire and demonstrate a new capability without formal instruction, evidenced in the Capability Passport.

Why this programme exists

Uganda Airlines is rebuilding a national carrier, Entebbe is expanding, African aviation is projected to double in two decades, and every airline, airport, ground handler and travel company in the region reports the same shortage of people who understand aviation services as a managed, regulated, technology driven business. The travel trade itself has been rebuilt around digital distribution and requires a new kind of professional. This programme produces the aviation and travel services manager who can run airport and airline customer operations, ground services, cargo and travel distribution to international standard, with paid co-op at airlines, airports and travel companies and industry certifications embedded.

Admission requirements

Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education with two principal passes; plus Uganda Certificate of Education with five passes including English and Mathematics. Applicants additionally complete a structured service scenario and reasoning task at admission, scored against Capabilities C4 and C10, and a short interview conducted by a practitioner. Equivalent international qualifications, and Forward College hospitality and culinary diplomas with advanced standing, are assessed against this profile. All applicants must demonstrate competence in English, the language of instruction, through their qualifications or an approved proficiency test under Part A. International and non standard qualifications are assessed for equivalence against the profile above under the Credential Portability provisions, so that a suitably prepared applicant may enter from anywhere in the world. Selection considers the whole application, including the structured admission task, and is conducted without discrimination under the University's admissions policy. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.

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