Uganda Airlines has wet-leased a Boeing 787-8 from Ethiopian Airlines to resume long-haul operations to London Gatwick and Mumbai following the grounding of its two Airbus A330-800neo aircraft for unscheduled maintenance. The carrier announced the suspension of these services on February 20, 2026, as both A330-800neos—its sole long-haul capable jets powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines—were withdrawn from service.
The ACMI lease, encompassing aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance, involves a 10-year-old 787-8 registered ET-ASI, configured with 24 business class and 246 economy seats. This differs from the A330-800neos’ layout of 20 business, 28 premium economy, and 210 economy seats, leaving premium economy passengers unaccommodated. A 43-member Ethiopian crew and engineers have been deployed to Entebbe.
Operations restarted with two weekly flights to Mumbai effective March 7 and three weekly to London Gatwick from March 8. The arrangement safeguards critical slots at Gatwick under ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ rules, preventing loss to competitors. Entebbe-Dubai sees a separate replacement by Danish Air Transport A320 from March 8 amid regional airspace issues.
This move coincides with leadership changes: CEO Jenifer Bamuturaki was replaced by acting head Girma Wake, a former Ethiopian Airlines chief. Uganda Airlines technical teams continue sourcing parts abroad due to limited Entebbe MRO capabilities, highlighting ongoing fleet resilience challenges for the carrier operating a small network of leased A320s and CRJ-900s.