By Samuel Ssenono
Uganda Airlines has returned its Airbus A330-800neo, registration 5X-NIL, to service.
The aircraft operated its first flight to Dubai on April 17, 2026, after being grounded for several weeks.
In a brief update, the airline said the return of 5X-NIL will boost capacity on its international routes and thanked customers and partners for their patience.
The airline’s wide-body operations have faced disruptions since December 2025. One of the aircraft, 5X-CRN, was stranded in Lagos for several weeks. It later returned to Entebbe in January 2026 but could not resume flights immediately after its engines reached the end of their operating cycle and required maintenance.
The second aircraft, 5X-NIL, was grounded in mid-February following a routine borescope inspection that detected cracks in turbine blades. The aircraft remained out of service pending further technical checks.
To manage the disruption, the airline secured a short-term wet lease arrangement with Ethiopian Airlines for a Boeing 787-8 aircraft to cover capacity gaps created by maintenance checks on its wide-body fleet.
