Cabinet has approved the acquisition from Boeing of two freighters, a narrowbody B737-800(BCF) and a widebody B777-F, for Uganda Airlines (UR, Entebbe), according to an announcement by Richard Ndiku, commissioner at the Ministry of Works and Transport.
Ndiku said discussions with the manufacturer on the terms and conditions of the purchases were ongoing.
He made the remark while updating parliamentarians on November 29 on the implementation of the ruling party National Resistance Movement’s (NRM) 2021-2026 manifesto, which provides for the purchase of cargo planes for Uganda Airlines to support the export of agricultural produce.
Uganda Airlines did not respond to a request for comment.
This follows an announcement in September that President Yoweri Museveni had approved the purchase of six more aircraft for the state-owned carrier, including four mid-range A320-200neo narrowbodies and two B787 widebodies, likely B787-8s. In June, the airline informed ch-aviation that initial plans for two Boeing freighters were off-the-cards, but this seems to have changed.
The A320neo are to be delivered after 2030, pending the first delivery slots from Airbus.
The airline intends to enter into dry leases for several years until the aircraft are available, which would either be outright purchases or finance leases.
The current fleet comprises two A330-800Ns and four CRJ900LRs, the ch-aviation fleets module shows.
