• Pencilled down for Entebbe-Lagos flights

It is challenging to make an airline work anywhere, and doubly so in Africa, a continent littered with innumerable dead airlines and others defying gravity by hanging on, writes JAMES PEARSON in Simple Flying. One example is the tiny and troubled Uganda Airlines, which possibly has the world’s most extreme difference in seat capacity. It has four CRJ900s and two A330-800s, the latter a vanity project – precisely what isn’t needed. The equipment gauge gap has been bridged, at least temporarily, by the arrival of a wet-leased A320.

Uganda Airlines’ leased A320

It is not just any ubiquitous Airbus narrowbody; that’d be too easy. Instead, it is the world’s second-oldest active A320. Generally, sub-Saharan carriers have limited choice and pay higher rates from wet lease operators (and lessors generally), partially because of heightened risk.

Uganda Airlines uses ZS-GAR from South Africa’s Global Aviation. According to ch-aviation, the aircraft is 35.1 years old and was the 53rd A320 built. It is surpassed by JY-JAC, with Jordan Aviation, which still flies. It was the 29th A320 built.

ZS-GAR has 160 seats: 148 in economy and 12 in business. Unfortunately, while Uganda Airlines reported a 160-seat layout, it stated 138 economy and 12 business seats. The media dutifully reported this without question. Regardless, the A320 intentionally fits between the carrier’s CRJ900s and A330s in size.

ZS-GAR was delivered new to the USA’s Braniff in 1989 as N902BN. After flying for America West, US Airways, and American (all as N621AW; see below), its US flying ended in 2013, and it entered Global Aviation’s employ in 2016. Its most recent gig was with South Africa’s Lift; I saw ZS-GAR operating for Lift while in Cape Town in November.

Why is it being used?

Uganda Airlines says ZS-GAR will be flown for six months. Flightradar24 shows that it was delivered from Johannesburg to Entebbe on May 9 and 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. It will occasionally fly to Nairobi and Lagos.

Upcoming aircraft maintenance is seemingly part of the reason for the A320. Nonetheless, it will also help with route performance, replacing the CRJ to Kinshasa and Johannesburg and transforming economics (subject to the lease rates).

The A320 will provide more than double the number of seats than the CRJ900 (let’s hope most are filled) and much more bag space. It will mean no payload restriction, significantly improving revenue opportunities and overall performance.

Using it 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 (hence Delta using 275-seat A350s there).

The freed-up CRJ900s could be used elsewhere, although the apparent maintenance reason for the A320 may prevent this. It will be interesting to see what happens after six months; will it just return to normal?

Boeing recently met Uganda’s president; it is always profoundly concerning when the airline is bypassed, even if it is government-owned. While Boeing freighters and widebodies are nonsensical for Uganda Airlines, it probably does need mid-sized equipment. Wet leasing the A320 enables the carrier to see how it performs.