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Uzbekistan Airways Looking To Sell Older Aircraft

An Uzbekistan Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner. (Photo: Anna Zvereva from Tallinn, Estonia [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)])

Uzbekistan Airways is looking to sell off some of its Boeing and Ilyushin aircraft. The sale comes as the carrier looks to revamp its fleet with newer Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, of which the carrier already has four.

Of its Boeing fleet, which has an age range of 15 to 23 years excluding the Dreamliner, the carrier will be selling four Boeing 767 widebody aircraft, two of which are Dash 300ER passenger variants and two of which are freighters. The Central Asian carrier will also be selling two of its Boeing 757-200 aircraft.

In addition to its Boeing fleet, Uzbekistan Airways is selling seven 64-seat Ilyushin Il-114 turboprop aircraft, which were first conceptualized when Uzbekistan was part of the Soviet Union. The Russian/Uzbek Il-114s have ages that range from six to 20 years.

Only 20 Il-114s were built throughout time, with Uzbekistan Airways being one of the primary operators of the aircraft. The carrier ceased operation of the aircraft in 2018.

Lastly, the carrier will be selling five Ilyushin Il-76TD freighters, which is the Soviet equivalent to a Boeing C-17 Globemaster or Lockheed C-141 Starlifter. Similarly to the Ilyushin Il-114-100, the Il-76TD is a Soviet-era aircraft.

While Uzbekistan Airways currently operates a modern fleet of Airbus A320-200s and A320neos in addition to its Dreamliners, the carrier still plans to retain some of its aging Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft. The Central Asian region is a hotbed of Boeing 757 activity with Air Astana in neighboring Kazakstan and Turkmenistan Airlines also operate the aircraft.

Still, the carrier has taken great strides in improving its fleet. Part of which stems from an initiative by the government that called for “radical improvement of civil aviation in Uzbekistan,” With four Dreamliners in service and orders for three more, Uzbekistan Airways is the largest operator of the type in the region.

The carrier has also been seeking proposals for a 70-to-90 seat aircraft for its domestic routes and expects its fleet to reach 38 aircraft in the next six years. Uzbekistan Airways currently flies to destinations in countries such as the U.S., U.K., India, China, Russia, Italy and Israel with plans to increase service to Phuket, Thailand and Frankfurt, Germany using its new 787 aircraft.

It is not yet known whether there are potential buyers for the aircraft.

Akhil Dewan

Author

  • Akhil Dewan

    An “AvGeek” for most of his life, Akhil has always been drawn to aviation. If there is an opportunity to read about an airline, fly on a new airplane, or talk to anyone about aviation, he is on it. Akhil has been on over 20 different kinds of aircraft, his favorite being the MD-80. Additionally, he has visited 5 continents and plans to knock out the remaining two (Africa and Antarctica) soon. Based in Dallas, Akhil graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Management Information Systems and currently works in consulting. His dream is to become an airline executive.

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