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.
