Uzbekistan Airways today revealed an order for 12 aircraft from the Airbus A320neo family. The Uzbek flag carrier already operates a fleet of 17 CEO A320 family aircraft. It has yet to decide which engines to equip its new order with.
As we reach the final part of January, Airbus appears to be storming ahead of Boeing regarding order announcements. The European planemaker started with a 12 Airbus A220 commitment from Delta Air Lines before today's Uzbekistan Airways order. Meanwhile, Boeing hasn't announced any commercial orders, though it seems to have attracted orders for two 787s from Hawaiian Airlines. The American planemaker has, however, been selected for NASA's Sustainable Flight Demonstrator Award.
Uzbekistan Airways boosts Airbus fleet
Today, Uzbekistan Airways has boosted its Airbus narrowbody fleet. The 12 A320neo family order is broken down between the A320neo and the A321neo, with four of the larger variant. As far as is clear, the A321neo will not be the LR or XLR variety.
With the Airbus Airspace cabin, Uzbekistan Airways hopes to use these new aircraft to boost its domestic and international network. Commenting on the announcement, Ilhom Makhkamov, Chairman of the Board of Uzbekistan Airways, remarked,
“The contract signed with Airbus is a new step in our fleet modernization strategy aimed at offering our passengers the most modern and comfortable aircraft. At the same time these new fuel efficient A320neo Family aircraft will help us to further expand and strengthen our footprint in Central Asia as well as develop our domestic and international network.”
Uzbekistan Airways' fleet today
According to our friends at ch-aviation, the Uzbekistan Airways fleet currently comprises 39 aircraft, of which 32 are listed as active:
- 9x Airbus A320-200 (8 active)
- 3x Airbus A320neo (2 active)
- 4x Airbus A321neo (4 active)
- 1x Airbus A321LR (1 active)
- 2x Airbus ACJ320 (2 active)
- 2x Boeing 757-200 (1 active)
- 7x Boeing 767-300 (5 active)
- 2x Boeing 767-300 BCF (2 active)
- 7x Boeing 787-8 (7 active)
- 2x Ilyushin Il-76 (0 active)
The airline's former fleet included many Ilyushin and Tupolev variants.
Inside Uzbekistan Airways' operations
While you may not realize it, Uzbekistan Airway already has a reasonably global network. In January, the airline has flights scheduled to 48 destinations, according to Cirium. While the network is heavily focused on its surrounding countries, it does stretch out as far as Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Frankfurt, London Heathrow, and even New York's JFK Airport.
The airline's top route is from Tashkent to Moscow Domodedovo, with roughly 140 flights in each direction planned this month. Istanbul is next with 73 round trips, followed by the domestic cities of Urgench and Nukus with 62 and 57 rotations, respectively.
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