The aircraft was traditionally greeted with a water arch to the sounds of national music and dance. The plane was welcomed by the management of Uzbekistan Airways, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Transport and other agencies.
A long-haul wide-body A330-200 (registration number LY-TKL, manufactured in 2009) is leased from Lithuania’s Heston Airlines, and not only the aircraft, but also the entire crew, maintenance and insurance costs are covered by the lessor. Another similar aircraft is expected to arrive in early May.
The liner’s cabin is designed for 266 passengers, including 18 in business class and 248 in economy class. The flight distance is 12,000 km. It is designed for flights lasting 3 hours or more.
“The decision to lease two A330s was made to cover our schedule. This type is most suitable for the cabin structure of Uzbekistan Airways aircrafts. Currently, almost all of the company’s aircrafts have 246 to 270 seats, and we had to find an aircraft that would help us fly the entire route network at this distance.
The task of the airline is to organize the process of non-stop use of the liner. In the event of problems with the use of this or that aircraft, we must install an aircraft of a similar configuration to replace it. Therefore, strategically, the company will try to keep the 270-seat airliner,” Shukhrat Yadgarov, deputy chairman of Uzbekistan Airways for trade and tourism, said.
Negotiations on the lease of the aircraft lasted for six months. This process consists of many parts – pricing policy, technical issues are discussed, then an inspection of the aircraft is carried out and a decision is made to lease them.
Together with the crews, the management of Heston Airlines, including CEO Jonas Rinkauskas, arrived in Tashkent. In the coming days, they will participate in the process of preparing the aircraft for operation, after which they will return to Lithuania and continue working remotely.
Some of the spare parts were delivered on board of the A330 aircraft, which will be placed in the free economic zone of the Tashkent airport in case of urgent repair work. The crew includes technicians.
According to the press service of Uzbekistan Airways, the plane that arrived at the initial stage is planned to be used on the routes from Tashkent to Istanbul, Dubai and Jeddah. The first commercial flight to Istanbul is scheduled for April 23.
As the plane was leased for a short period of time, it was not painted in the traditional “clothing” of Uzbekistan’s main air carrier, but “minimalism was chosen”, the representative of Uzbekistan Airways said.
The plane is completely white, except for Uzbekistan Airways on the side portholes, and the logo of the airline on the tail and engines. At the moment, the company is considering plans to “innovate” the traditional “clothing” of its aircraft.
The A330 is one of the most widely used medium- and long-haul aircraft in the world, but its production has already been discontinued. Uzbekistan Airways plans to test the use of this type of aircraft throughout the year before the arrival of other aircraft.
In 2022, the fleet of the airline was replenished with five A321Neo aircrafts. Contracts have been signed with Airbus for the purchase of 4 new A320Neo aircrafts until the end of 2023 and 12 aircraft – until 2029.
