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New details have emerged indicating the Airbus A320 aircraft recently leased to Uganda Airlines by South Africa’s Global Aviation company, is the world’s second oldest active Airbus in the aviation space.
On May 9th, Uganda Airlines announced the addition of the aircraft to its expanded fleet, which is a 160-seater, with a two-class cabin featuring 12 business class and 148 economy seats on a wet lease arrangement for 6 months from Global Airways to augment its operations.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a wet lease arrangement is under which an aircraft is usually leased on Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI) basis. A wet lease has been termed as expensive by some aviation experts – more so in Africa. Thus, a short-term solution.
James Pearson, a Routes Analyst and Air Transport Management expert while quoting CH- Aviation indicated that the A320 aircraft is 35.1 years old and was the 53rd A320 built in 1989. It is only surpassed by JY-JAC A320 Airbus which still flies with Jordan Aviation, and was the 29th A320 built within the same period.
CH – Aviation is a subscription-based aviation intelligence platform that airline industry leaders use to make informed decisions. Mr Pearson released the evidence about the old aircraft in an article he authored, and published on simpleflying.com, a website with a niche in aviation news.
According to information obtained from an aviation data tracking website planespotters.net, The A320 Airbus first operated under America’s Braniff International Airways from September 1989 to February 1991 under registered as N902BN. The aircraft was then leased to America West Airlines from 1991 to September 2005 under registration N621 AW.
The U.S Airways took over the aircraft from 2005 to 2013 under the same registration number, and it was then leased to American Airlines in 2013 until 2016. South Africa’s Global Aviation took over the aircraft in July, 2016, and leased it to several airlines including Sunrise Airways, Comair, Kulula.com, Corendon Airlines, and Lift. Uganda Airlines took over the ZS-GAR A320 Airbus in May, 2024.
Global Aviation was established in 2001, and currently operates a fleet of 9 aircrafts with the A320 Airbus being the oldest aircraft.
Risky or not.
Linden Birns, The Managing Director of Plane Talking, a South African public relations firm with a niche in aviation told the CEO Magazine that, the A320 aircraft which belongs to Global Aviation is kept in tip-top condition.
The CEO Magazine inquired from Mr Linden whether an old aircraft could have safety issues. Mr Linden while quoting industry sources said, there is no direct correlation between aircraft age and safety with new aircraft being just as vulnerable to gravity.
“What matters is that the aircraft, engines and undercarriage are properly maintained and undergo their scheduled overhauls and any components with prescribed service or time lives are replaced when they should be,” Mr Linden said .
He adds:- “Also crucial is that the aircraft is operated in accordance with the manufacturer’s and airworthiness regulator’s stipulated procedures.”
He noted that aircraft age is an economic or financial consideration for airlines.
“The older the plane the lower the capital cost or lease rates but the more maintenance-intensive it will be. Also, aircraft and engines designed in the 70s, 80s and 90s are not as efficient as the latest technology,”
Linden said, and explained further: “That’s because of advances in manufacturing, the advent of novel materials such as glass-reinforced plastics, carbon fibre, advanced alloys as well as micro processing, battery storage, etc. But there is nothing inherently unsafe about the first generation A320s.”
Shakila Rahim, the Uganda Airlines Public Relations Offier noted that the airline followed all the safety regulations of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for the leasing of the aircraft.
“The maintenance records and airworthiness standards for the aircraft are regulated by Civil Aviation, and the aircraft met all the requirements,” Shakila added.
Wikipedia data shows the Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984 with the first aircraft setting off to the skies in 1987. American Airlines is the largest A320 operator with 479 aircraft in its fleet.
In October 2019, the A320 family surpassed the Boeing 737 to become the highest-selling airliner. As of April 2024, a total of 18,607 A320 family aircraft had been ordered and 11,430 delivered, of which 10,714 aircraft were in service with more than 350 operators. The global A320 fleet had completed more than 176 million flights over 328 million block hours since its entry into service.
Why is it being used?
A Uganda Airlines statement authored on May 8th shows, the A320 mid-range aircraft will supplement our CRJ and A330 fleet.
Jennifer Bamuturaki, the Uganda Airlines Chief Executive Officer said the aircraft comes with its pilots and cabin crew and will support Uganda Airlines in maintaining schedule integrity during the period when part of the Airline’s regional fleet undergoes scheduled maintenance.
“This lease would also help to resolve operational challenges on routes like Johannesburg and Kinshasa, where we have been unable to operate efficiently due to capacity limitations and augment operations on services to Nairobi and Lagos,” she said.
Bamuturaki noted that, there has been significant growth in demand on a number of the Airlines routes, which has introduced certain pressures into the operations, and the aircraft comes at the right time to add flexibility to the Airlines operations.
Flightradar24 data, shows that the Airbus started carrying passengers from Entebbe to Kinshasa on May 14. As of May 16, it had thus far only flown to/from Kinshasa, although Johannesburg will also be an important route.
Pearson says the A320 will provide more than double the number of seats than the CRJ900 and much more bag space which means no payload restriction, significantly improving revenue opportunities and overall performance.
“Using the aircraft to Johannesburg will also benefit the many passengers who continue to Mumbai while overcoming Johannesburg’s hot and high conditions, which reduce take-off performance,” Pearson notes.
He adds that the freed-up CRJ900s could be used elsewhere. Uganda Airlines has a fleet of six aircraft, comprising four CRJ900LRs and two Airbus A330-800s.
On April 24th, President Museveni held a meeting at State House, Entebbe with Boeing officials led by Mr. Kujit Ghata-Aura, the President of Boeing Africa. The meeting aimed at striking a deal to acquire more aircraft for Uganda Airlines.
However, Boeing is also suffering from a global crisis of confidence over a series of air crashes from its 737 Max airplanes that have killed scores of passengers globally.