RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2021

Join this forum to discuss the latest news that happened in the world of commercial aviation.

Moderator: Latest news team

User avatar
sn26567
Posts: 40815
Joined: 13 Feb 2003, 00:00
Location: Rosières/Rozieren, Belgium
Contact:

RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2021

Post by sn26567 »

André
ex Sabena #26567

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Central African Republic announced 23 hours ago that RwandAir will begin flights to Bangui. Routing will be Kigali-Bangui-Douala-Bangui-Kigali and flights will be operated 2 times a week

Sylvie Baïpo Temon
@SylvieBAIPO_RCA
·
23h
RWANDAIR assurera 2 vols par semaine sur le trajet KIGALI-BANGUI-DOUALA-BANGUI-KIGALI https://twitter.com/SylvieBAIPO_RCA/sta ... 3177996297


Looking RwandAir African network, before Covid the airline planned to serve Luanda (Angola) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). About Kigali-Addis bookings were closed few times before the first flight. RwandAir has its WB code on the double daily service Addis Ababa-Kigali. Double daily service was operated beofre covid crisis

So i m little bit suprised to see RwandAir flights to Bangui even if this route was opened before covid crisis. Bangui is not a big market and Kenya Airways resumed Bangui route, few years ago.

What are the most popular destination from CAR on the RwandAir network ? Dubai ? Mumbai ? Guangzhou ? Johannesburg ? Brussels ?


Image
Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by rwandan-flyer »

RwandAir B737-800 9XR-WG operating the Kigali-Dubai service diverted to Muscat due to bad the weather at Dubai, on 17Jan21.

Pix https://twitter.com/Hafedh955/status/13 ... 8397861888

It's porbably one of few destinations outside Africa that i want to see on RwandAir Network. However in 2018, Oman Air planned to serve Rwanda in the future (i think it's now postoponed due covid crisis).

"Abdulaziz al Raisi, CEO, Oman Air, said: “The launch of flights to Casablanca in Morocco from July 1 is part of these restructuring initiatives. Currently, there are four weekly flights to Guangzhou in China and we are looking at other cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.”

On the African side, the airline will be targeting countries like South Africa and Rwanda in the next few years.

https://www.omanobserver.om/oman-air-to ... at-as-hub/

RwandAir and Oman Air have already a partnership via a Interline Ticketing Agreement (https://www.omanair.com/gbl/en/alliances-and-partners). Kigali is now on Oman Air booking engine, but i don't know if it's due to the Interline Agreement or the Oman Air / Ethiopian Airlines code share.

RwandAir or Oman Air, i hope one day to make a Paris-Muscat-Kigali trip. 8-)

Kigali-Bangui-Douala flights are confirmed by RwandAir, but they are waiting for some papers from Cameroon.https://en.igihe.com/news/article/rwand ... -to-bangui

I m still sceptical about this route. However it's interesting to see on various facebook pages and groups of Central African diaspora, that many people wanted to see a Bangui Brazzaville route. In deed i remmember that TAAG Angola from 2007 to mid 2010s has operated a Luanda-Brazzaville-Bangui-Ndjamena service.
Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Translate from Kinyarwanda, from the the official Twitter page of His Eminence Antoine Cardinal Kambanda

Antoine Cardinal Kambanda 21jan21

The #Angola Ambassador is pleased that in #Rwanda we have seen Cardinals, we both enjoy the good relations between our countries and discuss how the #Church in Rwanda and #Angola are getting closer. 1/2

@FlyRwandAir is about to begin its journey, Christians in #Angola will come to #Kibeho on a pilgrimage, and we also have a 500-year history of the Church in Angola to visit.

https://twitter.com/KambandaAntoine/sta ... 5182150656


In France we have Lourdes, in Rwanda they have Kibeho. Kibeho hosts pilgrims from around the world (ok number of visitors is lower than in Lourdes^^)

I don't know if it will the begining of regular flights between Angola and Rwanda (Luanda is on the list of futur RwandAir destination since few years), or in a first time only special flights.



A new lockdown started at Kigali, on 19 January 2021 (for 2 weeks), where are recorderd the highest number of covid cases. Kigali Airport still receiving regular flights, contrary to the first nationwide lockdown the only domestic route from Kigali operated by RwandAir to Kamembe (south west of Rwanda, near the DR Congo Rwanda boarder) is not suspended

Image
Image
Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Another good article, from the very serious Kenyan Newspapers The East African which is circulated in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda)

Covid-19 worsens turbulence facing East Africa's airlines

Executives at Kenya Airways, RwandAir and Uganda Airlines all concede to a challenging business environment that has seen a rise in costs, cutbacks in capacity and a revision of business projections.


[...]

RwandAir


Just like its counterparts in the region, the carrier recorded a sharp drop in passenger traffic, with its key routes caving under the weight of the Covid-19 pandemic, despite them seeing the airline through last year’s turbulence.

Upon resumption of its flights in August through December last year, passenger numbers were boosted by repatriations of citizens and business travel especially on the Guangzhou and Dubai routes.

“The traffic trend was initially positive when we resumed services last August, but we are now seeing a decline in demand on our key routes like Dubai and China due to new Covid-19 testing protocols even for connecting flights, where now two tests are required,” said Musoni Jimmy, RwandAir’s head of global operations.

He said two tests require more money and time, which is discouraging many people from travelling while “the restrictions on business travellers by China, where only its citizens and those with work permits are allowed into the country, has also affected the market.”

“We are seeing a decline across our routes and entire business, so we still have a long way to go,” he added.

He said that as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc in the carrier’s key markets, waning traveller confidence is resulting in a significant decline in leisure and business travel. Mr Musoni said services on the UK route, have been reduced to a single weekly flight from the previous three because of a slump in demand.

“We are operating at 50 per cent of our capacity across the network. The UK route is a major issue for us now and we have reduced the frequency because of low demand. We are operating it because we have to maintain our presence there,” he added.

When the airline reopened last August, London, China, Entebbe Johannesburg, Lagos and routes to West Africa initially performed well, although sub-optimally. Dar es Salaam, Entebbe and Nairobi, were the least performing routes although they picked up towards the end of the year.

Revenue streams were supported by cargo which continued to perform well with the airline reconfiguring one of its A330’s for cargo. RwandAir is now banking on the early arrival of a Covid-19 vaccine in the country to change its fortunes. “We expect quicker market recovery as a result of the positives that come with early vaccine arrival,” said Mr Musoni.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/bu ... es-3268062
Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by rwandan-flyer »

UK bans flights to and from the UAE, Rwanda and Burundi

https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/emir ... m-the-uae/
Rwandan newspapers quotes Chinese Media saying, that RwandAir will once again suspend flights to China after 5 passengers tested positive for COVID19,

https://twitter.com/ChroniclesRW/status ... 9545024513
Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by rwandan-flyer »

1st flight to Bangui this morning. According to the Rwandan public media, there were 75 passengers whose final destination was Bangui. The flight making a stopover in Douala. Flight operated by B737-800 (RwandAir WB212)

Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA)
@rbarwanda
·
7h
For the first time, RwandAir carried 75 passengers to Bangui, which will operate twice a week (Kinyarwanda translation)

https://twitter.com/rbarwanda/status/13 ... 3023555585

Some pix

Note that Kenya Airways resumed its red eye flights to Kigal, few weeks ago 8-)

Image

The traditional water salute

https://twitter.com/FlyRwandAir/status/ ... 4324518913

© RwandAir (Kigali)

Image

RwandAir operates soem flights for the Rwandan army deployed in peace missions in Africa or Haiti, replacing more and more Ethiopian, EuroAtlantic or Air Europa who have contracts with the UN.

RwandAir A330s are regular visitors to Bangui, as here in Bangui, in 2017. Rwanda does not have military transport planes.

Credit to the author of the Photo

Image
Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by rwandan-flyer »

A little bite suprised to see once again this info. I was already not very optimistic for such flights, but now with the covid crisis.

USA is the biggest market for Rwanda outside Africa, ahead United Kingdom and India. And of course, RwandAir serves Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa which are big markets for USA. But i have doubt about the success for this route

For, Rwanda: KLM, Egytpair, Turkish Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Qatar Airways, Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines provides flights to and from Kigali, to and from USA. RwandAir has partnership with Ethiopian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Qatar Airways.

Stiff comeptition.

If people are interested to get more infos about RwandAir (financial situations between 2016 and 2019 ), you can get maany infos from this document.

https://beta.regulations.gov/document/D ... -0049-0006

In deed RwandAir has made another request to the FAA, to serve New York, from Kigali via Accra (Ghana). RwandAir has already get its FAA Cat 1 few years ago. The airline can put its code share on flights to USA operated by another airline. Someone can confirm me, but i think that RwandAir A330s can also operate flights for an airline which serves USA.

Only Rwanda CAA needs to get FAA Cat 1 (audit was planned to happen in 2018 https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/bu ... er-1394830) before flights start (around december 2021). Since mid 2010s, many upgrade have made at Kigali Airport

Another meeting happened in 2019

RwandaCAA
@RwandaCAA
Following @aviationafrica @RwandaCAA and @FlyRwandAir meet @FAA delegation led by Executive Director Office of International Affairs Mr Chris Rocheleau in Kigali, #Rwanda.

https://twitter.com/rwandacaa/status/11 ... 4010864642

Accra is served by RwandAir since 2013, 4 times a week via Abuja (Nigeria) mostly using B737s and sometimes the A330. This flights was previously operated by Lagos (Nigeria), during a few period the aircraft made a night stop at Accra.
Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873

User avatar
sn26567
Posts: 40815
Joined: 13 Feb 2003, 00:00
Location: Rosières/Rozieren, Belgium
Contact:

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by sn26567 »

So, in brief, RwandAir applies to the US DOT to amend its foreign air carrier permit to enable the airline to provide scheduled and charter services to the US on the Kigali – Accra – New York JFK route with A330. The carrier also applied for authorisation to enter codeshare and/or wet lease arrangements with US or foreign air carriers.

Very ambitious indeed!
André
ex Sabena #26567

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Bad news for RwandAir, due to covid variants the airline will suspend all its flights to Southern Africa: Lusaka (Zimbabwe), Harare (Zimbabwe), Cape Town and Johannesburg (South Africa), from tomorrow.

They will join Dakar (Senegal), Juba (South Sudan), Mombasa (Kenya) Guangzhou, London, Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Tel Aviv are not served by RwandAir. Flights are suspended

Only Bangui (CAR), Cotonou (Benin), Douala (Cameroon), Brussels, Brazzaville (Rep of Congo), Dubaï, Libreville (Gabon), Lagos & Abuja (Nigeria), Bujumbura (Burundi), Nairobi (Kenya), Entebbe (Uganda), Kinshasa (DR Congo), Kilimanjaro and Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) and Kamembe (Rwanda) are now served.
About Dubai, RwandAir can no longer to carry passengers from Nigeria to Dubai:
Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by rwandan-flyer »

I was wondering if someone know the reason why a RwandAir 9XR-WF 737-800 was in Paderborn on February 2, 2021

https://www.jetphotos.com/registration/9XR-WF

It was flying between Algiers and Padeborn https://fr.flightaware.com/live/flight/9XRWF

Edit: ok i got my anwser. It was for maintenance. Algiers was probably a fuel stop between Kigali and PAD. Photos and Videos on PAD Aviation Technics FB page: https://www.facebook.com/PADAviationTechnics/


-------------------------------------------------- -----------------------

Otherwise the Tunisian spotters have could see yesterday a RwandAir B737-800 again the 9XR-WF at Monastir (Tunisia). He carried the Rwanda national basketball team, for qualifying matches of the African Basketball Championship

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 0999533354

Note that the AS Kigali team played an African club cup soccer match in .... Sfax (Tunisia) today. But they took Turkish Airliens (Kigali-Istanbul-Tunis) and then surely the bus to Sfax. It is either Turkish Airlines or Qatar Airways when a Rwandan Team plays in Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia and sometimes RwandAir (special flight). They did not have the opportunity to test Egytpair
Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by rwandan-flyer »

RwandAir to be the first African airline to trial IATA Travel Pass

Kigali ─23 February, 2021. RwandAir will become the first African airline to trial IATA Travel Pass to enable safe and seamless international travel. The airline will begin a three-week trial in April for customers travelling between Kigali and Nairobi in Kenya.

IATA Travel Pass is a digital platform to help passengers easily and securely verify that they comply with COVID 19 test or vaccine travel requirements, in turn giving governments the confidence to reopen borders.

https://www.rwandair.com/media-center/n ... 1rfZZYh6LI

Nairobi Kigali is one of the busiest lines of RwandAir (we still have to see how much Entebbe-Kigali, Johannesburg-Kigali, Dubai-Kigali do). Same for Kigali airport, since

Normally, RwandAir operates 3 flights a day (much less at the moment) including some via Entebbe (Uganda) ... to take traffic between Uganda and Kenya. At the time, it was mainly to take pax following the bankruptcy of Air Uganda.

Kenya Airways operates 3 to 4 flights per day in normal times (including their low cost subsidiary JamboJet). Less at the moment

In total it's 6 to 7 flights per day between Kigali and Nairobi (which is huge in Africa), so it makes sense to choose this line for the test
Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Yesterday a RwandAir A330 (9XR-WP) once again operated a flight between Kigali and Amman. It happened several times since few years

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/9xr-wp

A RwandAir B737-800 9XR-WR was at Colombo Sri Lanka few weeks ago.

Kigali-Nairobi-Colombo-Kigali

Some pics:
https://www.facebook.com/AviationVoice/ ... 040050309/
https://www.facebook.com/AviationVoice/ ... 046716975/
https://www.airsrilanka.org/forum/airpo ... KJJOiwSz54

https://it.flightaware.com/live/flight/ ... /HKJK/VCBI
Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Rwanda: ‘RwandAir not profitable, but catalytic for economy’ – finance minister

Rwanda is pumping money into the tourism sector, which has badly been hit by Covid-19 says Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Uzziel Ndagijimana. He believes the partnership between RwandAir and Qatar Airways will help put the country in a better place to benefit from the post-Covid economic upswing.

https://www.theafricareport.com/71781/r ... -minister/

RwandAir CEO talks trade, tourism and breaking the glass ceiling

Yvonne Makolo shares her company's plans to become a travel hub in Africa and why women are the key to RwandAir's success. https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2021/ ... lo-spc.cnn



The signing of the deal with Qatar Airways is imminent. The company is expected to take 49% of the shares and the rest will be for the Rwandan state.

The new Kigali airport is expected to open next year and will be managed by Qatar Airways which will own 60% of the shares

The capacity has been reassessed to a maximum of 7 million pax over the period 2022-2032. The IATA was optmistic for Rwanda over the period 2016-2036, but it was before the covid https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2016-10-18-02/ "The top ten fastest-growing markets in percentage terms will be in Africa: Sierra Leone, Guinea, Central African Republic, Benin, Mali, Rwanda, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Madagascar. Each of these markets is expected to grow by more than 8% each year on average over the next 20 years, doubling in size each decade.

The current Kigali airport terminal opened in the 1980s had a base capacity of 400,000 pax (traffic exceeded in 2012 https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/bu ... f--1315902), but in 2019 we were at 1,200,000.

The latest expansion phase is expected to reach 1,800,000 pax (https://www.mininfra.gov.rw/updates/new ... -in-rwanda). The airport is in the city, it is not possible to expand it, furthermore it's located at the top of a hill.

It is clear that it will surely take a little longer to reach these objectives, due to the covid19. Airlines** (excluding RwandAir) that serve Rwanda and have also played a role in increasing of trafic will continue to add more flights when the demand will be back. My little doubt comes from RwandAir, I'm waiting to see what Qatar will do with it. The experiences at Air Italy and Ethiad in Europe have not been great. We are talking about possible fleet transfers. Why not replace RwandAir's A330s with A321LRs more suitable for RwandAir, RwandAir was interested in the A321LR (https://www.ktpress.rw/2018/09/rwandair ... re-planes/))

Even though Rwanda has had quite a bit of success in other areas, it also cannot afford to continue injecting such large money into RwandAir alone. I am not querying RwandAir, but I would say that the airline should rather focus on Africa. On the long haul keep Mumbai and Dubai, where loads are not very bad for the period. But close Brussels and London and not go to New York and probably also China.

I m sure that other airlines will come to Rwanda during this decade which will allow traffic to increase. Outside Africa, I bet for Air France (the return), Lufthansa and Oman Air

**: Auric Air, Coastal Aviation, Jambojet (Kenya Airways), Ethiopian, KLM, Kenya Airways, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Egytpair.

Otherwise the Commonwealth summit which was to take place last year, should take place this year if the covid situationis ok. During the African Union summit (2016), the parking at Kigali airport were full

© Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority

Image
Image
Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873

Homo Aeroportus
Posts: 1486
Joined: 24 Feb 2007, 18:28
Location: 2300NM due South of North Pole

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by Homo Aeroportus »

Thanks Rwandan-flyer.
We will see Bugesera open one day (heck, even BER finally made it ;) ) but better indeed to work on keeping KGL up to the task in the meanwhile.

When you write : "The airport is in the city, it is possible to expand it, ..." I think you mean it is NOT possible.
Kanombe is as you say like an aircraft carrier in the middle of the city, a bit like an African Congonhas, so no extension possible. Not even possible to have a full length parallel TWY so backtracking is necessary to reach the threshold for take-off from 10.

And many thanks for these beautiful photos.
Do you know what the Karinou is doing there? Their 733 was their "best" one, no?

H.A.

User avatar
sn26567
Posts: 40815
Joined: 13 Feb 2003, 00:00
Location: Rosières/Rozieren, Belgium
Contact:

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by sn26567 »

RwandAir to be allocated US$145 million in the 2020/2021 budget, up from $125 million in the previous year, as the government plans to revive the tourism sector, as explained above by Rwandan-Flyer.
André
ex Sabena #26567

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Homo Aeroportus wrote: 17 Mar 2021, 19:58 Thanks Rwandan-flyer.
We will see Bugesera open one day (heck, even BER finally made it ;) ) but better indeed to work on keeping KGL up to the task in the meanwhile.

When you write : "The airport is in the city, it is possible to expand it, ..." I think you mean it is NOT possible.
Kanombe is as you say like an aircraft carrier in the middle of the city, a bit like an African Congonhas, so no extension possible. Not even possible to have a full length parallel TWY so backtracking is necessary to reach the threshold for take-off from 10.

And many thanks for these beautiful photos.
Do you know what the Karinou is doing there? Their 733 was their "best" one, no?

H.A.
Yes in deed i wanted to say it's not possible.

Yes the Bugesrea is probably one of the few white elephant in Rwanda. Bugesera Airport project started in late 2000s. and recorded lots of delays due land dispute with people living in the Bugesera, new tenders, lack of fund and the project was several time reviewed


Karinou B737 was carrying the President Faustin-Archange Touadéra of Central African Republic.
Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873

User avatar
sn26567
Posts: 40815
Joined: 13 Feb 2003, 00:00
Location: Rosières/Rozieren, Belgium
Contact:

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by sn26567 »

RwandAir and Qatar Airways are in final negotiations regarding their planned partnership. The government of Rwanda will remain the majority shareholder.
André
ex Sabena #26567

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by rwandan-flyer »

The CEO of Kenya Airways dropped a news about the deal between Qatar Airways and RwandAir. He says Qatar Airways will transfer 60 planes to RwandAir. I doubt this info, at least the number of planes. Didn't he confuse it with 6 or 16. 60 seems so huge to me even if we look for the long term. Or probably due to his accent I misunderstood and that it is 16 and not 60. And even for 16 it should be done gradually.

Full interview: | JKLive | KQ: Broken wings and a prayer [Part 1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01aFNoi3s2I&t=744s

In any case, the number of 16 seems logical to me. If we want to harmonize the medium and haul fleet, we would have to switch to all Airbus. Qatar Airways is in the process of turning A320Ceo which could go to RwandAir to replace the B737s (6 in total). For the long haul (keep only Dubai and Mumbai) I remain on the idea of ​​withdrawing the A330s and replacing them with the A321 LR or NEO on order with Qatar Airways.

On the regional level, we would stay with 2 CRJ-900 and 2 Q400NG.
Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873

rwandan-flyer
Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir in 2021

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Rwandair becomes first African airline to vaccinate staff https://www.businesstraveller.com/busin ... ate-staff/

RwandAir has again deployed its A330s to Mumbai. But this is the first time without the tag with Guangzhou. The A330 flights are operated every Wednesday which ends the technical stopover in Mombasa (Kenya) when the flight is operated in B737-800.

If some people are interested by a trip report on RwandAir Asian flights, here is one done by a Taiwanese who has made a Guanghzou-Kigali-Tel Aviv, with RwandAir in September 2019.

The flight seemed to be well filled and especially a lot of cargo: mrgreen:


Guanghzou: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 0599685253
Guanghzou-Bombay: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 0599685253
Commercial stopover in Bombay: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 0599685253
Arrival in Kigali: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 0599685253)
Kigali-Tel Aviv: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 0599685253


Image


Excluding RwandAir: Turkish Airlines (in May 2021, 09 years of presence in Rwanda) will for the first time serve Rwanda by A330-300 from tomorrow, and this every Saturday (departure from IST), replacing the B737-800 / 900ER. Note that since 1-2 years Turkish Airlines uses its A330s more and more replacing B737-800 / 900ERs in West / Central and East Africa.

Egytpair returns to 2 flights per week like before the pandemic either this week (no reservations available) or the next week (reservations available). This route is only a year and a half old due to covid19 (April 2019-April 2020, then resumed in October 2020, with one flight a week). There are also more night flights with Ethiopian Airlines. KGL is almost served twice a day (day and night flight), as before the pandemic.

Image

And to finish an Emirates B777-300ER A6-ENP which came to Kigali a few days ago (Dubai-Kigali-Nairobi) with a small go-around above Kigali

Image
Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873

Post Reply