LONDON – On June 16th, Uzbekistan Airways (UZB) have chosen Airbus Services to reconfigure and refurbish the cabin of their narrowbody fleet: the A320.
The European manufacturer will soon lay out the SBs (Service Bulletins) or guidelines, and kits to install 24 additional economy class seats in a fully configured economy class cabin.
The refurbishment programme will be carried out at the UAT, and MRO centre in Tashkent, the nation’s capital, fully owned and operated by Uzbekistan Airways. Under this project, there will be 9 narrowbody A320 aircraft that will be refurbished.
The A320s owned by Uzbekistan Airways will be fitted with a new Recaro 3710 Swift seats. The new Recaro seats mean an increased benefit to the aircraft, as it is lighter, which will help the airline to shave its operating costs per flight, by saving fuel.
Moreover, these seats can accommodate 24 more additional seats. This raises the total of seats to 174 passengers, while at the same time maintaining comfort and safety for passengers. This will add more revenue per flight for the airline.
Despite being denser, this will not compromise the comfort of travellers, as has been explained. The seats are equipped with integrated netting in the backrest, and also ergonomically designed cushions.
Passengers will have sufficient knee room and in addition, seat pitch has also increased. Recaro 3710 Swift seats are honoured to be chosen by Uzbekistan Airways.
“We are proud to be Uzbekistan Airways’ long-standing partner of choice, delivering the right cabin solution at the right time, supporting the airline’s growth and meeting the market trends,” said Charbel Youzkatli, Head of Commercial Services, Airbus Europe.
“Uzbekistan Airways is proud to be the launch customer for Airbus Services in Central Asia. This tailored cabin solution will not only offer more seats to our passengers but also enable the airline to meet the increasing market demand and provide greater revenue within our network,” added Kiyasov Ulugbek, Technical Director, Uzbekistan Airways.
Uzbekistan Airlines is one of the leading airlines in Central Asia along with Air Astana. The Uzbek carrier is also one of the most modern fleets, and the first airline in the region to fly the Airbus A320NEO aircraft.
As of now, the airline operates 13 highly efficient A320NEO aircraft.
The Uzbek government has in many ways tried to promote the nation’s aviation industry to become more western aligned and competitive. Currently, Uzbekistan Airlines is the flag carrier and the largest carrier in the country, and 100% owned by the Uzbek government and is based in Tashkent.
The fleet size of the airline now stands at 32, with a couple of aircraft on order. The fleet primarily consists of western made aircraft.
The airline’s regional workhorse is from the Airbus A320 family, with 2 A320NEOs, 10 A320-200CEOs and 1 A321LR with 4 more currently on order. For its medium to long haul fleet, the airline has 2 757s to be phased out this year, 7 767-300ERs and 4 787-8s.
