RWANDAIR expects
delivery of a new
Airbus A330neo within
the next few weeks, which
will be deployed soon on
its rapidly expanding route
network, says Thembela
Dladla, country manager
South Africa and Namibia.
He says RwandAir’s fleet
of 12 aircraft is one of the
youngest on the continent,
including A330, Next
Generation B737-800 and
CRJ 900 and Q400 regional
aircraft. It currently serves
27 destinations across
Africa, the Middle East,
Europe and Asia from its
hub at Kigali International
Airport.
Recent intercontinental
network expansion included
operations from Kigali to
Mumbai, London (Gatwick)
and Brussels. On June 18, it
launched its first operation
to Guangzhou, China, having
been granted Fifth Freedom
rights between Mumbai and
Guangzhou. A new service
to Tel Aviv, Israel, started
on June 25. “Plans to enter
the American market with
flights to New York are still
ongoing and a launch date
will be confirmed in the near
future,” he says.
To improve intra-Africa
connectivity, RwandAir
recently introduced flights
to Abidjan, Libreville,
Brazzaville and Dakar
from its secondary hub
at Cotonou, Benin, in
addition to existing flights
from Kigali to that part
of the continent. Other
destinations in Africa
include Abuja, and Harare
with a Fifth Freedom
extension to Cape Town. In
April, the airline launched
flights to Kinshasa, while
Addis Ababa and Luanda
will be added soon.
The airline operates twice
daily out of Johannesburg,
except on Days 2 and 4
(WB102/03 and WB106/07)
with WB107 being a Fifth
Freedom operation to Lusaka;
while Cape Town operates
five times a week except on
Days 2 and 4.
Rwanda’s new Bugasera
International Airport, currently
under construction, will
become the airline’s new hub
once completed.
For more on airline hubs
and networks, see TNW’s
feature starting on page 5.
RwandAir continues fleet and network expansion
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