A few weeks ago we got our first glimpse of the exterior of Uganda Airlines’ (rare) A330-800neo, and now the interior of the plane has been revealed as well.
In this post:
Uganda Airlines’ first A330-800neo
Uganda Airlines is Uganda’s recently relaunched national airline. The airline started flying in August 2019, and currently operates a fleet of four new CRJ-900s.
Uganda Airlines CRJ-900
In 2018 Uganda Airlines placed an order for two A330-800neos, and the first of those is just weeks from being delivered, as it’s expected to join the fleet in December 2020. Uganda Airlines has shown off pictures of its first new A330-800neo, and is it gorgeous, or what? I love that tail…
Uganda Airlines Airbus A330-800neo
Uganda Airlines Airbus A330-800neo
Uganda Airlines’ A330-800neo interiors revealed
Uganda Airlines’ A330-800neos will be configured with 261 seats, including 20 business class seats, 28 premium economy seats, and 213 economy seats. The airline has today revealed pictures of the plane’s interior… at least of the business class and economy class cabins.
It looks like Uganda Airlines has selected the Stelia Aerospace Opal seat in business class, which is quite popular with airlines. You’ll find this on airlines ranging from Singapore Airlines, to Turkish Airlines, to Aircalin, to Air Senegal.
Uganda Airlines business class A330-800neo
Uganda Airlines business class A330-800neo
Economy is in a 2-4-2 configuration, as you’d expect on an A330, and looks quite nice as well. The A330 is popular with economy flyers for the two pairs of economy seats in each row.
Uganda Airlines economy class A330-800neo
Uganda Airlines economy class A330-800neo
Where will Uganda Airlines fly its A330-800neo?
As far as Uganda Airlines’ routes for the A330-800neo go, last I heard the plan was to fly the plane to Dubai, Guangzhou, London, and Mumbai. I haven’t seen any updated information on that front, so I’m sure we’ll learn more soon.
Advertisement on Uganda Airlines’ website
Uganda Airlines’ potential A330-800neo routes
What makes the A330-800neo unique
The A330neo is the newest variant of the popular A330 jet, as it features improved performance (in terms of fuel efficiency, range, etc.). There are two versions of the A330neo — the A330-800neo and the A330-900neo.
While hundreds of A330neos have been ordered by airlines, those orders have overwhelmingly been for the A330-900neo. There are only two confirmed airlines taking delivery of a total of 10 A330-800neos — Uganda Airlines ordered two, while Kuwait Airways ordered eight.
The smaller of the jets just wasn’t popular, so it will be truly rare to see these planes, unlike the A330-900neo, which has orders from nearly 20 airlines.
Bottom line
Uganda Airlines’ A330-800neo order has to be one of the most interesting aircraft orders in recent years. The airline is now just weeks from taking delivery of its first aircraft. The livery looks gorgeous, and the interior looks pretty good as well, though it’s more or less what I would have expected.
Do you love Uganda Airlines’ livery as much as I do?
It's not part of one of the major alliance groups. Would be good for those going to or coming from Uganda but it's a bit out of the way for most.
Wasn't the A330-800neo meant to be an A330-200 replacement? Or possibly even a 767 replacement?
I'm surprised it wasn't more popular for those who didn't need as much as plane as the -900/330
For those in the comments who are criticising/questioning Uganda:
- I am a gay man. I have been to Uganda three times, with my husband (once for 6 weeks, travelling all over the country) and experienced no sort of negative issues at all. Most Ugandans have simply never (or never knowingly!) met gay people, so tend to be fascinated rather than hostile. Certainly most Ugandans are significantly less hostile to LGBT people than, say,...
For those in the comments who are criticising/questioning Uganda:
- I am a gay man. I have been to Uganda three times, with my husband (once for 6 weeks, travelling all over the country) and experienced no sort of negative issues at all. Most Ugandans have simply never (or never knowingly!) met gay people, so tend to be fascinated rather than hostile. Certainly most Ugandans are significantly less hostile to LGBT people than, say, the average person in certain parts of the southern United States... Sure, I wouldn’t walk around holding hands with my husband, but I don’t normally do that anyway!
- Uganda is a genuinely wonderful place. It has been much less spoilt by tourism than most of Southern Africa, has amazing wildlife and truly wonderful people. If you are willing to forego haute cuisine and branded hotels in favour of more “genuine” travel experiences, it’s pretty unbeatable as a destination.
- All of that said - and back on topic - I think I will stick to KLM for my future trips!
I love the look of the aircraft ... it stops there for me
Seems like the business class privacy shell has been redesigned to allow more space at shoulder level, and also access to outside view for window seats, much better than TK or SQ design.
If you look closely, the 2-4-2 economy seats actually have two armrests in the center so the arrangement is way better than any Boeing setup.
Nice plane. Now, if I could just think of one single reason to go to Uganda...
They chose the cheapest economy seats (the same on Ukraine International Airlines) with the cheapest entertainment system, Zodiac RAVE (which is cheap because it's a wireless system)
Uganda is a country that tortures, imprisons, and murders LGBT+ people. Nothing to celebrate here.
Business class looks exactly like what Garuda has on their A330neos.
Also, Singapore actually uses an evolution of the Stelia Solstys III on their 787-10s and regional A350s. It was initially widely confused with the Stelia Opal.
@John, the 5th largest airline in North America is based in Kentucky. SDF has daily flights to Bogota, Casablanca, Cologne, Dubai, Leicester, Hong Kong, Sao Paolo, Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Of course, the total number of passengers on those flights is 0 because it's UPS.
In the future, the 2 big airports for 747s are going to be Anchorage and Louisville. In the next few years, the only operators will be freight.
Much prefer an airline that uses a330/40s and 767s over a350 and 787. The 2 by the window is much more comfortable and fitting for most economy travellers than 3-3/4-3. Although because economy is now usually so bad with the hard slimline seats. I rarely if ever go below premium or exit row.
One issue is that many of these smaller airlines are not part of global alliance groups.
So because a country is not as rich as a European country, it is not allowed to invest in an airline? A national airline is much more attractive than a bunch of different companies flying around. A national airplane is a flying billboard for the country. This is how the UAE are boxing above their weight with Emirates, Qatar with Qatar Airlines, Singapore with Singapore Airlines and so on.
Uganda is homophobic: if you...
So because a country is not as rich as a European country, it is not allowed to invest in an airline? A national airline is much more attractive than a bunch of different companies flying around. A national airplane is a flying billboard for the country. This is how the UAE are boxing above their weight with Emirates, Qatar with Qatar Airlines, Singapore with Singapore Airlines and so on.
Uganda is homophobic: if you would only deal with ethical countries, there won't be many countries to deal with. Isolating a country usually radicalises positions.
Idi Amin kicked out all the Indians and now the predatory Chinese are back in Uganda. Time to give the crocs some dinner again!
@Daniel from Finland
Guangzhou is China’s trading hub with Africa, with roughly 350,000 annual visitors from Africa, and the largest African diaspora you can find in East/Southeast Asia.
Mumbai because the Indian migration to Africa under the British colonial rule. Africa now holds 3 million Indian descendants, with 300,000-500,000 residing in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
@Matt - New aircraft are registered in the country in which they are manufactured until being delivered to the customer. These planes will be registered in France until they are turned over to the airline, at which point they will, presumably, be registered in Uganda.
These are photo shopped, are they? Just wondering about the French registration... Or do they all get registered (and painted?) twice?
"Canton" (more properly known as Guangzhou) is attractive due to the massive amounts of Chinese foreign direct investment in Africa.
I agree. The bird really detracts from the aesthetics of the tail, which would have been stunning without adornment (like Aeroflot's tail, for example). The bird looks like a cartoon character. If it's a national symbol, they should have done something like put it near the front of the plane, perhaps in the way Turkish does with the tulip.
Donna, I was wondering if they considered painting a QR code as well.
Is the -800 the one HA canceled for the 787?
I don’t care for the bird even if it is a national symbol. I would have ditched the bird and just gone with the colors. Also, I find the .com advertising on the side of the plane totally unnecessary since anyone with two active brain cells can find them on a simple web search.
@John, "East Africa now has 4 international airlines for a region with a GDP roughly equivalent to the US State of Kentucky."
That really puts it into perspective.
here we go.
People: But remember Uganda is a terribly repressive regime. Extrajudicial murders and the like, not to mention...
Lucky: But the TAIL tho! It's KWORGUS KWEEEN SLAY SLAY SLAY!
People: Um
Canton?
Bombay?
What century is it in Finland?
It's still Uganda, a country that harshly criminalizes homosexuality. Boycott anything out of this bigoted country.
Chris, I was thinking the same! London I understand, but what makes Dubai, Canton and Bombay so attractive?
Love it. Always makes me happy to see an African airline expanding its fleet and route offerings. It will be nice to see the interior, as well.
It's beautiful, but the stupidity of entering the African Aviation Market for Uganda was always ill considered. Mouseveni needed to "compete" with the rest of the loss making carriers in the region. East Africa now has 4 international airlines for a region with a GDP roughly equivalent to the US State of Kentucky.
Obviously they're aiming for an international market share, but there is no reason for this airline to exist and given the...
It's beautiful, but the stupidity of entering the African Aviation Market for Uganda was always ill considered. Mouseveni needed to "compete" with the rest of the loss making carriers in the region. East Africa now has 4 international airlines for a region with a GDP roughly equivalent to the US State of Kentucky.
Obviously they're aiming for an international market share, but there is no reason for this airline to exist and given the state of teacher salaries, roads, etc., in Uganda, it's a tragedy that it does and has sucked up a significant portion of very limited state resources . This plane was not cheap and likely benefits very few Ugandans, but is a "prestige" toy for the elite. Entebbe was already well connected before this boondoggle and very few people are coming to see the Gorillas for the next 1-2 years anyway.
Interesting side note: These supposed long haul routes are identical to that of Rwandair's intercontinental routes.
I am based out of Kuwait, so I kinda feel lucky for being able to experience the A330-800neo as soon as Kuwait Airways receives those planes! Nonetheless, I would definitely want to try out Uganda A330-800 as well! Imagine KWI-DXB on KU A330-800neo and DXB-Kampala on Uganda's A330-800!
I love it and idk why but it looks 10x more amazing on the 330 than the CRJs. I'm planning a major trip to Africa and depending on timing, may have to add this to my list of reviews.