Uganda Airlines’ Airbus A330 NEOs Enter Final Assembly Line

The production of Uganda Airlines’ two Airbus A330NEOs is still on course, Ministry of Works and Transport has revealed.

The two new aircraft this week entered the final assembly line in France.

This is in spite of the of the fact that Airbus significantly reduced its production rates because of the Covid19 pandemic’

The company announced in April that it was cutting production by up to a third, in order to protect workers from contracting the virus.

The Ministry of Works spokesperson Ms Susan Kataike confirmed last night nonetheless, confirmed that production of Uganda’s wide body airliners was still on schedule and that delivery dates later this year were still unchanged.

Ms Kataike also shared pictures of the aircrafts’ vertical stabilizers being convoyed into the assembly line.

Uganda Airlines, which was revived last year being defunct for nearly 20 years, placed an order for 2 new A330 NEOs at the 2018 Farnborough Airshow in England.

Once delivered as expected in December this year, Uganda Airliner will be one of just three airlines in the world, (others are Kuwait Airlines and another undisclosed one) and the only one in Africa operating the new variant.

The Airbus A330-800Neo is one of the two versions of the A330Neo (the other is the A330-900Neo), which were launched simultaneously as an improvement on the hugely successful Airbus A330 Series. Neo stands for new engine option.

The A330-800Neo which Uganda is embracing, is slightly smaller than the A330-900Neo, carrying about 30 fewer passengers (under the 2 class configuration), but is said to be more fuel and cost efficient than its sister.

Airbus A330-800Neo is a sleek and beautiful airplane, and with its low fuel consumption, operational versatility, cabin comfort, longer range and capital costs, it is one of the most efficient airliners on the market.

Uganda Airlines hopes to place its two airliners on long haul routes including Dubai, for which it has already secured clearance, as well as Mumbai, and Guangzhou in China.