Uganda Airlines cedes World’s youngest fleet title to Taiwan’s Starlux

January 24, 2023 in Business, Companies, Foreign News, Travel & Tourism by Editor

Uganda Airlines has ceded the World’s youngest aircraft fleet crown to Taiwanese carrier Starlux Airlines in ch-aviation World’s Youngest Aircraft Fleet Award 2023. Starlux which also emerged as Asia’s youngest aircraft fleet in 2023 has an average aircraft age of only 1.22 years.

Uganda Airlines which in the past held the award for two consecutive years, this time weighed in at number 5 globally but remains the youngest fleet in Africa. It might be only a matter of time however, before Ugandan flag carrier bounces back to the top since it is still in its active  fleet development phase.

“The ch-aviation Youngest Aircraft Fleet Award recognises airlines across the globe which maintain young, modern, and efficient aircraft. Airlines dedicated to keeping their fleet young with new-generation aircraft contribute significantly to decreasing CO2 emissions within the aviation industry and help achieve better fuel efficiency,” ch-aviation editors explained in notes on this year’s awards.

To determine which airlines currently operate the youngest aircraft fleets, ch-aviation maintains an extensive aircraft database consisting of more than 4,800 active operators, more than 69,000 aircraft, and 1,000 lessors worldwide.

“ch-aviation’s Youngest Fleet Award recognises airlines dedicated to keeping their fleet young and using new generation aircraft. This subject is extremely important to all of us in the industry and the whole world because CO2 emissions are a global issue affecting us all. We at ch-aviation believe it is critical to recognise those airlines that truly work hard toward fixing this problem by keeping their fleets young because they’re the ones that make a difference. This Award acknowledges their efforts and is an incentive to keep up the good work. It is essential to say that this Award is entirely based on non-manipulable fleet data. There is no jury or any other subjective parameter involved,” said ch-aviation chief executive officer Thomas Jaeger.

 

Top 5 youngest aircraft fleets worldwide:

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Ranking	Operator	Continent	Average aircraft age	Fleet Size
1	Starlux Airlines	Asia	1.22 years	18
2	flyadeal	Asia	2.56 years	27
3	Lynx Air	North America	2.90 years	6
4	SKY Airline (Chile)	South America	2.94 years	28
5	Uganda Airlines	Africa	3.01 years	6

 

The Award also acknowledges:

• The Top 5 youngest aircraft fleets worldwide in the category “100+ aircraft in their fleet”
• The Top 5 youngest aircraft fleets from Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America

World’s Top 5 youngest aircraft fleets in the category “100+ aircraft in their fleet”:

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Ranking	Operator	Continent	Average aircraft age	Fleet Size
1	IndiGo Airlines	Asia	3.57 years	297
2	Wizz Air	Europe	4.31 years	169
3	Frontier Airlines	North America	4.52 years	119
4	Volaris	North America	5.49 years	116
5	Spring Airlines	Asia	6.68 years	119

 

Africa’s Top 5 youngest aircraft fleets:

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Ranking	Operator	Average aircraft age	Fleet Size
1	Uganda Airlines	3.01 years	6
2	Jambojet	4.38 years	7
3	Air Tanzania	5.66 years	12
4	Air Seychelles	6.14 years	7
5	Air Austral	6.71 years	10

 

Asia’s Top 5 youngest aircraft fleets:

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Ranking	Operator	Average aircraft age	Fleet Size
1	Starlux Airlines	1.22 years	18
2	flyadeal	2.56 years	27
3	Vistara	3.33 years	55
4	Akasa Air	3.45 years	13
5	IndiGo Airlines	3.57 years	297

 

Europe’s Top 5 youngest aircraft fleets:

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Ranking	Operator	Average aircraft age	Fleet Size
1	PLAY Airlines	3.17 years	8
2	airBaltic	3.80 years	41
3	Norse Atlantic Airways	4.15 years	9
4	Pegasus Airlines	4.40 years	96
5	Helvetic Airways	4.87 years	16

 

North America’s Top 5 youngest aircraft fleets:

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Ranking	Operator	Average aircraft age	Fleet Size
1	Lynx Air	2.90 years	6
2	Flair Airlines	4.15 years	30
3	Frontier Airlines	4.52 years	119
4	VivaAerobus	5.28 years	69
5	Volaris	5.51 years	116

 

Oceania’s Top 5 youngest aircraft fleets:

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Ranking	Operator	Average aircraft age	Fleet Size
1	Fiji Airways	6.14 years	19
2	Air Tahiti	7.14 years	9
3	Air New Zealand	8.64 years	105
4	Jetstar Airways	10.99 years	83
5	Virgin Australia	13.02 years	95

 

South America’s Top 5 youngest aircraft fleets:

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Ranking	Operator	Average aircraft age	Fleet Size
1	SKY Airline (Chile)	2.94 years	28
2	JetSMART	3.24 years	22
3	Viva	3.36 years	21
4	EasyFly (Colombia)	5.37 years	20
5	Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras	7.68 years	169