The history of the UR-WRQ!

Mar 15, 2020

Our former Windrose Airlines Airbus A330 is a real globetrotter! In this post, we look back on 20 years of aviation history for you, in which the A330 had no less than 7 different registrations and 8 operators! But first things first: In October 1999, the Airbus A330-200 with the manufacturer serial number (MSN) 296 left the factory doors in Toulouse for the Belgian company Sabena in Brussels, where it was registered as OO-SFR, having already sported the registration F-WWKO during testing. After the Belgian national carrier went bust, the Airbus A330 changed hands to VG Airlines in 2002, which then changed its name to Delsey Airlines in August of the same year. On 24 October 2002, it ceased operations on economic grounds and Delsey Airlines was declared bankrupt on 5 November 2002. International Lease Finance Corporation, the owner of the aircraft, registered it briefly under the Irish registration EI-CZS, leasing it to Malaysia Airlines in May 2003. In Malaysia our globetrotter was given the registration 9M-MKV and spent the next 10 years flying for the Malaysian flag carrier.

To complicate things even further, the owner changed too: ACMI provider Hi Fly acquired the A330 from ICLS and registered it as CS-TRJ. In 2013, the Ukrainian charter carrier Windrose Airlines acquired the aircraft, where it was then registered as UR-WRQ and given its unique paint job, distinctly recognisable from afar. Windrose Airlines based in Kiev has its home base at Boryspil International Airport. Windrose Airlines also changed the configuration and from then on operated the Airbus with a single class configuration and 321 economy class seats. Windrose's charter destinations included destinations in Europe, the Middle East and South America. In 2017, the UR-WRQ was decommissioned for good, changing hands again (DAE Capital, registration LZ-AWP) and finally scrapped in 2019. This airborne globetrotter is now being preserved for posterity as part of this colourful and unique Aviationtag edition!