One of the world's rarest Airbus planes spotted taking off for Uganda Airlines flight

Somebody was lucky to spot one of the rarest Airbus airliners ever, operated in this case by Uganda Airlines.

Words like ‘rare’ or ‘special’ are thrown around a lot these days, but this Airbus is indeed so rare the chances of spotting one are close to zero.

The irony is that this particular Airbus was developed from one of the most common airliners in the world.

It also has a ‘twin’ that’s much, much more common.

How rare is the Airbus A330-800 aircraft?

At the time of writing, only three airlines operate 800s: Kuwait Airways with four, Uganda Airlines with two, and then Air Greenland with one.

There’s also a privately-owned 800, which presumably means it’s a private jet.

There’s a backlog, obviously, but it’s negligible.

Only four 800s are due for delivery in the future.

The irony is that Airbus also developed the 900 variant alongside it.

Numbers don’t lie: only 12 orders for the Airbus A330-800 and well over 400 for the Airbus A330-900.

The reason why this aircraft is so rare

The A330-800 is sort of halfway between a 200 and a larger widebody.

It has the same fuselage as the 200, but the seating layout is rearranged, the sidewalls are slimmer, and it has new engines.

Some sources claim that developing an 800 from the 200 was cheap because of ‘fleet commonality’, which is aviation speak for ‘sharing the same parts’.

Maybe that’s why.

Maybe Airbus simply threw a couple of ideas against the wall to see what sticks.

Well, with only 12 orders in total (or 20+ if you include unconfirmed or withdrawn orders), it’s fair to say it didn’t really stick.

Uganda Airlines has an interesting fleet

Uganda Airlines is an emerging flag carrier on the African continent, and a revival of the old Uganda Airlines that operated from the 1970s until 2001.

So far, the airline has made interesting choices.

They’ve also placed major order for Boeing 737 MAX and 787 Dreamliner aircraft, but their current active, self-operated baseline consists of those core six jets.

Two are A330-800s, and then there are four Bombardier CRJ-900ER.

Unlike the A330-800, the CRJ-900ER isn’t exactly rare, but it’s made by Bombardier, which is generally known for creating private jets more than airliners.

That’s why the CRJ-900ER looks a bit like a giant private jet. But, unfortunately, it isn’t.

I flew one once, with a different airline in Europe, and it’s quite cramped inside.

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If you want to catch an A330-800 for yourself, you can fly directly to their home bases in Uganda, Kuwait, or Greenland.

Alternatively, head to London Gatwick, Dubai International Airport, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International in Mumbai, or Murtala Muhammed International in Lagos, Nigeria – the four international airports where you are statistically most likely to spot them passing through.