Uganda Airlines (UR, Entebbe) will wet-lease another A320-200 from the end of November, this time from DAT (Denmark) (DX, Kolding), after regulatory hurdles in South Africa prevented it from extending an A320 ACMI arrangement with Global Aviation Operations (GE, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo), CEO Jenifer Bamuturaki told ch-aviation on the sidelines of the 56th African Airlines Association (AFRAA) annual general assembly in Cairo, Egypt.
The aircraft concerned, to be provided via subsidiary DAT (R6, Kaunas International), will be 9.25-year-old OY-RUY (msn 6733), currently in maintenance at Billund, according to ch-aviation research.
Bamuturaki confirmed that Uganda Airlines' short-term wet-lease of Global's A320-200, ZS-GAR (msn 53), ended in October. The airline opted not to extend it, she said, as this would have involved a lengthy regulatory process with the South African Civil Aviation Authority. The regulator earlier this year delayed the deployment of the aircraft on the Johannesburg O.R. Tambo route, requiring an amendment to Uganda Airlines' operating permit, even though the South African-registered aircraft was operated by a South African ACMI specialist.
The A320 wet-leases are a short-term capacity-crunch solution pending the planned dry-lease in June 2025 of two A320neo jets, which in turn are to bridge the capacity gap ahead of a planned order from Airbus of four A320neo for Uganda Airlines' long-term medium-haul needs - to be delivered after 2030 pending the first delivery slots from Airbus.
Mixed widebodies
The Ugandan carrier also intends to order two B787 widebodies from Boeing for its long-term long-haul requirements. The airline has ascribed the surprising switch to Boeing widebodies to "internal reasons for more engine options which the A330 was not providing at present." The order, pending finalisation and financing from the Ugandan Ministry of Finance, would add to the airline's existing fleet of two A330-800Ns and four CRJ900LRs.
According to ch-aviation research, the A330s have been underutilised, failing to meet the minimum monthly flying hours required for chargeable revenue. Instead of flying long-haul routes as planned, the aircraft were deployed on short regional flights, resulting in more cycles but less revenue. The lack of sufficient flying hours led to a shortfall in earnings and arrears in agreed monthly engine fees.
Still, since October 2023, the A330s have also been deployed to Mumbai International, while the impending launch of 4x weekly flights to London Gatwick will increase the aircraft's utilisation and is expected to bring improved revenue generation. Bamuturaki confirmed the London route would launch in March 2025 but was unable to confirm the exact date at this stage.
She said an agreement had been reached with the UK Civil Aviation Authority that will allow Uganda Airlines to operate the Gatwick slots for the IATA 2025 summer and winter, despite a late start in the IATA 2024 winter season. A 80:20 rule mandates that airlines must utilise at least 80% of their allocated slots at UK airports during a scheduling period to retain those slots for future use.
