Maybe already reported before but missed it somewhere.
The A330-900, what happend to them?
RwandAir in 2021
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rwandan-flyer
- Posts: 550
- Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30
Re: RwandAir in 2021
Thx for the explanationrwandan-flyer wrote: ↑03 Apr 2021, 20:49RwandAir won't leased them, like for the two planned B737Max due to Covid crisis. One A330Neo is stored at Chateauroux (France) and the other one at Toulouse.
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rwandan-flyer
- Posts: 550
- Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30
Re: RwandAir in 2021
Your welcome
After a long period of storage (a time stored in Zimbabwe then in Rwanda) one of RwandAir's B737-700 9XR-WJs carried out a test flight a week ago. The plane back to the service today: Kigali-Douala-Bangui. This aircraft has been leased to ILFC since 2013 (delivered new to Air Berlin in 2007)
https://fr.flightaware.com/live/flight/ ... /HRYR/HRYR
An article on Qatar Airways' Africa strategy published by Jeune Afrique in October 2020 is now open access. I put the part that talks about RwandAir.
Basically RwandAir can theoretically fly between Doha and Kigali, replacing QR, it will depend on the business plan.
They want to rationalize the fleet (bybe bye the B737s?) clean up the network to enable to RwandAir to become profitable (no more flights to Europe? Or future flights to the USA?).
Note that flights to Juba (South Sudan), Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Dakar (Senegal) and Tel Aviv do not have resume. While routes to on Conakry (Guinea) and Bamako (Mali) I doubt that they will open. In my opinion the Cotonou hub or base where 2 B737-700s were based and allowed flights to French-speaking West Africa countries (Dakar, Abidjan then, Bamako and Conakry) should not resume
After having acquired 60% of the new Kigali airport at the end of 2019, you are about to take 49% of the capital of Rwandair. How do you include the latter in your strategy?
It is with the other shareholder, the Rwandan government, that it will be explained, the day the transaction is finalized. The business plan is being prepared. Kigali has a very interesting geographical position in Africa, which allows us to access more markets and distribute traffic there from Europe, Asia or America.
It offers a continuation on secondary cities in Africa which do not have sufficient flows to justify non-stop flights from Doha. Rwanda's tourism potential is also significant. Having Rwandair in the Qatar Airways family and its holdings, including British Airways, Iberia, Cathay Pacific, TAP Portugal, can boost it even more.
Isn't Kigali too close to Addis Ababa and Nairobi, which benefit from two major carriers and already drain a lot of traffic?
Maybe Kigali is too close to Addis and Nairobi for Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways. For us, this is not the case. We are not focused on our competitors but on our customers. We want fair competition and access to their market. They are also welcome in Doha.
Could you fly Qatar Airways planes with Rwandair flight numbers to bypass the blockade?
The illegality of this blockade was confirmed in July 2020 by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. We intend to work clearly for the customer by using Qatar Airways planes on Qatar Airways flights and Rwandair planes on Rwandair flights. We do not want to circumvent the system, but that justice be done. The business plan will decide whether Qatar Airways or Rwandair will operate the flight between Kigali and Doha. Theoretically, Rwandair can do it.
Rwandair has lost $ 50 million a year since its inception. How to make a profitable company?
By making more revenue and spending less money. To do this, we have to rationalize the fleet, take a very close look at the network design and revenue management tools.
https://translate.google.com/translate? ... n-afrique/
After a long period of storage (a time stored in Zimbabwe then in Rwanda) one of RwandAir's B737-700 9XR-WJs carried out a test flight a week ago. The plane back to the service today: Kigali-Douala-Bangui. This aircraft has been leased to ILFC since 2013 (delivered new to Air Berlin in 2007)
https://fr.flightaware.com/live/flight/ ... /HRYR/HRYR
An article on Qatar Airways' Africa strategy published by Jeune Afrique in October 2020 is now open access. I put the part that talks about RwandAir.
Basically RwandAir can theoretically fly between Doha and Kigali, replacing QR, it will depend on the business plan.
They want to rationalize the fleet (bybe bye the B737s?) clean up the network to enable to RwandAir to become profitable (no more flights to Europe? Or future flights to the USA?).
Note that flights to Juba (South Sudan), Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Dakar (Senegal) and Tel Aviv do not have resume. While routes to on Conakry (Guinea) and Bamako (Mali) I doubt that they will open. In my opinion the Cotonou hub or base where 2 B737-700s were based and allowed flights to French-speaking West Africa countries (Dakar, Abidjan then, Bamako and Conakry) should not resume
After having acquired 60% of the new Kigali airport at the end of 2019, you are about to take 49% of the capital of Rwandair. How do you include the latter in your strategy?
It is with the other shareholder, the Rwandan government, that it will be explained, the day the transaction is finalized. The business plan is being prepared. Kigali has a very interesting geographical position in Africa, which allows us to access more markets and distribute traffic there from Europe, Asia or America.
It offers a continuation on secondary cities in Africa which do not have sufficient flows to justify non-stop flights from Doha. Rwanda's tourism potential is also significant. Having Rwandair in the Qatar Airways family and its holdings, including British Airways, Iberia, Cathay Pacific, TAP Portugal, can boost it even more.
Isn't Kigali too close to Addis Ababa and Nairobi, which benefit from two major carriers and already drain a lot of traffic?
Maybe Kigali is too close to Addis and Nairobi for Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways. For us, this is not the case. We are not focused on our competitors but on our customers. We want fair competition and access to their market. They are also welcome in Doha.
Could you fly Qatar Airways planes with Rwandair flight numbers to bypass the blockade?
The illegality of this blockade was confirmed in July 2020 by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. We intend to work clearly for the customer by using Qatar Airways planes on Qatar Airways flights and Rwandair planes on Rwandair flights. We do not want to circumvent the system, but that justice be done. The business plan will decide whether Qatar Airways or Rwandair will operate the flight between Kigali and Doha. Theoretically, Rwandair can do it.
Rwandair has lost $ 50 million a year since its inception. How to make a profitable company?
By making more revenue and spending less money. To do this, we have to rationalize the fleet, take a very close look at the network design and revenue management tools.
https://translate.google.com/translate? ... n-afrique/
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rwandan-flyer
- Posts: 550
- Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30
Re: RwandAir in 2021
It is now stored in Palma de Mallorca so it seems that the aircraft was phased out. It was not Air Berlin the 1st operator of this 737 but TUIFly, misateke from me.rwandan-flyer wrote: ↑04 Apr 2021, 19:00 Your welcome
After a long period of storage (a time stored in Zimbabwe then in Rwanda) one of RwandAir's B737-700 9XR-WJs carried out a test flight a week ago. The plane back to the service today: Kigali-Douala-Bangui. This aircraft has been leased to ILFC since 2013 (delivered new to Air Berlin in 2007)
https://fr.flightaware.com/live/flight/ ... /HRYR/HRYR
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/airc ... j#274cd6a9
A trip report quite recent onboard of a RwandAir B737-700 from 2:54. The flight was Kigali Kinshasa but the person was arriving from South Africa.
Flight Attendants announcements in Kinyarwanda, it's not every day that you can hear that (from 06:44)
followed by Eng and French announcementsMy First trip to DR Congo Kinshasa via Kigali after so many years being outside during Covid-19 time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtWz75X01Ek&t=504s
The A330Neo and B737Max will not be delivered but already had their Rwandan registrations. The 4 had to be leased
The RwandAir fleet as 04/08/2021:
4 B737-800 (2 leased 9XR-WR / WQ)
1 B737-700 (leased)
2 CRJ-900ER (RwandAir is the owner)
2 A330 (RwandAir is the owner)
2 Q400NG (1 leased (9XR-WM) and the other RwandAir is the owner)
Note that in the past, RwandAir planned to buy a B737-300 coming from KLM and 2 B787 called "terrible teens" (Ex Royal Air Maroc).
