Uganda Airlines (UR, Entebbe) has taken delivery of the first of two B737-800s wet leased from Ethiopian Airlines to "strengthen its operations and enhance flexibility", the airline announced on social media.

ADS-B data shows that 13.9-year-old ET-APL (msn 40965) arrived in Entebbe on May 12 from Addis Ababa International, and began operating for the Ugandan airline two days later with the first flight to Lagos.

The airline did not publicly disclose which routes the aircraft will serve. It has replaced an A320-200 OY-RUY (msn 6733), which Uganda Airlines had wet leased from DAT (Lithuania). The Airbus aircraft was ferried back from Entebbe to Billund via Larnaca on May 13. Until May 11, it had operated regional routes for the Ugandan flag carrier, including to Lagos, Abuja, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta, Kinshasa N'Djili, Lusaka, and Harare International, ADS-B data confirms.

ch-aviation has contacted Uganda Airlines for more information.

This follows another wet-lease arrangement where Ethiopian Airlines temporarily operated Uganda Airlines' long-haul services to London Gatwick and Mumbai International for two months (March 5 to May 3) with B787-8 ET-ASI (msn 38758).

This came after Uganda Airlines found itself without its in-house long-haul fleet when its two A330-800N widebodies were grounded due to unscheduled maintenance.

One of the two, 5X-NIL (msn 1977), returned to service on April 17 and is flying to London, Mumbai, Dubai International, and Cape Town International. Its sister ship, 5X-CRN (msn 1979), remains grounded at Entebbe, according to ADS-B data.

The airline's regional fleet comprises four CRJ900LRs, of which one, 5X-KNP (msn 15474), has been parked at Entebbe since November 2025.

The government of Bosnia and Herzegovina reached a decision on May 6 to funnel BAM145,283 Bosnian marks (USD87,000) into defunct flag carrier B&H Airlines (Sarajevo). The company will use the funds to pay outstanding fees and taxes on the salaries of four former employees, who will consequently be able to exercise their right to a state pension.

Bosnia's government, the sole owner of B&H Airlines, decided to shut down and liquidate the carrier in 2015 due to accumulated debts, which were partly covered by selling assets in 2018. This is not the first time the state has injected cash into B&H after its demise; the country's audit office has previously flagged continued investments.

Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International) is in early talks with Airbus to purchase twenty A220s plus six additional A350s, according to a report by Bloomberg citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

Considerations are at an early stage and there is no certainty that Ethiopian will proceed with an order, or how many aircraft it would buy, said the sources who asked not to be named.

ch-aviation has asked Ethiopian Airlines for comment, while an Airbus spokesperson said: "As a matter of principle, we do not comment on discussions we may or may not be having with potential customers."

Ethiopian Airlines has been mulling its regional fleet options for some time. Last year, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mesfin Tasew told ch-aviation that the long-awaited decision on the next regional aircraft fleet was close, with the carrier evaluating the A220-100 and A220-300, the E190-E2, and the B737-7 to complement or replace its ageing DHC-8-Q400 turboprops.

On the A220s, he confirmed the airline was considering both the -100 and -300 series. "We may consider both," he said, explaining that the -100 is better suited to Addis Ababa International's payload-restricting hot-and-high conditions, while the larger-capacity -300 would best fit domestic operations. A likely order scenario would be "10 firm and 10 options".

An agreement with Ethiopian would allow Airbus to have a bigger presence at the carrier, whose fleet is dominated by Boeing.

On the widebodies, Ethiopian already operates four A350-1000s and twenty-two A350-900s with seventeen more of the latter type on order.