RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

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

Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Gabon and Togo to join Commonweatlh https://time.news/why-do-togo-and-gabon ... monwealth/
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A British Airways RwandAir partnership in sight? A cooperation between Heatrow and Kigali airport?

RwandAir
@FlyRwandAir
·
4h
Today, we had the pleasure to host the Rt. Hon @BorisJohnson, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and his delegation with the @HeathrowAirport
CEO Mr. John Holland-Kaye at our #CBF2022 lounge. https://twitter.com/FlyRwandAir/status/ ... 3207357440

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Ministry Of Tourism Jamaica
@tourismja
·
5h
Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett pauses for a photo opportunity with RwandAir Chief Executive Officer, Yvonne Manzi Makolo following their discussions on air connectivity to Jamaica through the Doha, Dubai and Heathrow airports.
https://twitter.com/tourismja/status/15 ... 3127150602


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© New Times Rwanda & Rwanda Broadcasting Agency

Highlights from the Commonwealth Heads of State Summit.

KC30 Voyager "Vespina" with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall on board

A321Neo with Boris Jonshon and his wife Carrie Symonds Johnson

The Prime Minister of Singapore in G550

Justin Trudeau in A310

The Emir of Qatar in B747-8I

The Prime Minister of Sierra Leone in A330 from Qatar

Australian Minister of Defense in RAAF BBJ2

The Sultan of Brunei in B747-8I

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

Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Arkia seems to be (a little bit happy) with the flights operated with RwandAir last spring. Arkia has scheduled a TLV-KGL-TLV flight in September 2022, this time without the stop in Tanzania 8-) source: Tel Aviv Airport (search engine).

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Very nice photos (131) of Kigali airport by Olivier Mugwiza. Enjoy 8-) https://www.flickr.com/photos/thenewtim ... 0300185070

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On the last edition of Inzozi the magazine of RwandAir, about the network there were updates.

Code shares with Qatar Airways have been added. According to Aero Routes, RwandAir has also placed its WB code on DOH-EDI, DOH-MAN-DOH-LHR https://aeroroutes.com/eng/220706-wbqrcodeshare

Dakar, Juba, Abidjan Tel Aviv and the future route to New York were removed. The route to Canton is still there, but will be served without the stop in Mumbai

New destinations have appeared: Maputo (Mozambique), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Luanda (Angola), Zanzibar (Tanzania) and Paris via Brussels.

If former colleagues from the apron at CDG has the handling contrat with RwandAir, I hope that they will not teased me when they will have some troubles with RwandAir :mrgreen:

Well to be honest most of these destinations have been mentioned in the past. Are they financially viable ? Note also that the objective of Qatar Airways is thah a maximum of passengers use Doha and Kigali to fly to and from Africa.

On social media I've seen people doing Seattle-Doha-Kigali-Lagos, Sydney-Doha-Kigali-Goma-Kigali-Doha-Sydney, Dallas-JFK-Doha-Kigali-Doha-Dallas (American Airlines from Dallas to Doha via JFK and then RwandAir), Washington-Doha-Kigali-DOH-IAD, Montreal-Doha-KGL-DOH-YUL,...

https://s3.amazonaws.com/document.issuu ... LjaPMsg%3D.


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

Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Rwanda, Austria sign air service agreement

Rwanda and Austria have signed an agreement that will see both countries opening skies for each other’s commercial airlines, also commonly known as Bilateral Air Service agreements in aviation terms.


Except if Rwanda decides to do marketing for the Austrian market and Austrian operates some charter flights to Kigali for Austrian tour operators, I do not see a regular Kigali-Vienna route in the future. Ethiopian Airlines does the job.

Even if that said the Doha Vienna line operated by Qatar Airways is operated in code share with RwandAir (WB1031)

https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/rwanda- ... 47MN9D59V4

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RwandAir has added its WB code from Doha on Qatar Airways flights to Larnaca, Colombo, Budapest, Ryhad, Sallah (Oman), Muscat (Oman), Damman (Saudi Arabia) and Brussels. BRU and LHR are therefore the first 2 destinations outside Africa served by RwandAir and which has also set its code from Doha.

https://www.doha-airport.com/departures ... ndair?tp=6

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RwandAir celebrates 5 years at BRU

Difficult to know the loads, but from what I see the loads seems to be good. Well there are more than 30,000 Rwandans (page 22 https://publications.iom.int/system/fil ... elgium.pdf) living in Belgium ( even if they are not all friends with Kagame). Without forgetting the numerous Belgians to go to Rwanda. We can also surely add the Rwandans living in Holland, North of France (especially a lot of students) who can also go to Brussels.

https://igihe-com.translate.goog/diaspo ... r_pto=wapp


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Al Baker has decided, it will be UGC and Mota Engil who will be in charge of building the new version of Bugesera airport. This is Qatar's largest investment in Africa

Funds, new design,... Bugesera airport has accumulated delays. Qatar Airways & Doha Airport will own 60% of the airport.

The airport will be built by a consortium Qatari Portugal UGC and Moto Engil (already selected by Rwanda) in competition with CDC / QDVC (Qatar) and Icats (Turkey) which were for a while the preferred bidders

The announcement should take place by September 2022 and the foundation stone probably laid by the President of Rwanda and the Emir of Qatar (no date)

HIA refused to accept the inclusion in the final invoice of the very likely fluctuations in raw materials (war in Ukraine) hence the long duration of the call for tenders

https://www.africaintelligence.fr/afriq ... 799872-eve (subscription, but I summarized the article for you)
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rwandan-flyer
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Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

What RwandAir’s Paris flight means to business community https://www.newtimes.co.rw/business/wha ... -community

National carrier RwandAir plans to open a new direct flight to the French capital, Paris, a move the business community says presents boundless opportunities.

The much awaited flight will help save time, get more fresh produce to the French market and, most probably, create more jobs, exporters told Doing Business. Currently, the national carrier operates in more than 28 countries in Africa, Europe, North America and Asia.

Yvonne Makolo, Chief Executive Officer of RwandAir, told Doing Business that their first commercial flight from Kigali to Paris is likely to start by the end of this year.

According to Theoneste Ntagengerwa, Spokesperson of the Private Sector Federation (PSF), once it happens, it will be a significant advantage to the local business community, especially those in the horticulture industry, which needs such means to deliver their perishable produce to France in a timely manner.

“Most of our exports are from the horticulture sector and in most cases perishable goods. Now, this [new route] will ease things. The people exporting to France should explore it,” Ntagengerwa said.

“There are a lot of business opportunities to tap into for both business people in Rwanda and France.”

The new destination will also help business people from both countries to enhance their networking, he noted.

Member states of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, or La Francophonie, countries and regions where French is the first or customary language, account for 20 per cent of global trade. During the La Francophonie Economic and Trade Mission in Kigali, on July 12, Louise Mushikiwabo, Secretary-General of La Francophonie, urged Rwandan businesses to exploit opportunities within the French-speaking community.

That week, more than 100 companies from 25 French-speaking countries were in Kigali to meet about 250 Rwandan counterparts for prospective business partnerships.

Besides, business and trade ties between Rwanda and France are also on a steady mend after, in 2021, the two countries turned a page following nearly three decades of animosity. In May 2021, on the first day of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Kigali, the two countries signed two bilateral agreements, including a framework for bilateral cooperation, and another on sports and talent development.

France’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness, Franck Riester, and 30 French companies, visited Rwanda, in October 2021. The French companies expressed interest in investing in Rwanda in different sectors including health, transport, construction, environment, as well as bringing new technology in different fields of agro-industry and agri-food industry.

It means a lot to the horticulture sector

Robert Rukundo, chairperson of the Horticulture Exporters Association of Rwanda (HEAR), said: “We have been waiting for this [direct flight to Paris]. It means a lot to the horticulture sector and business, in general.”

“We have been having challenges connecting to France. The only option was Ethiopian Airlines, whose ticket charges have been skyrocketing. And then it has been connecting flights and we have been losing some of our products in terms of quality, it [Ethiopian Airlines] being the only available option.”

As noted, when transporting Rwandan cargo to France, the flag carrier of Ethiopia has to first land in Addis and the trip takes more than 17 hours.

Sakina Usengimana, founder of Afri-foods Ltd, exporters of premium fresh vegetables and fruits from Rwanda, said some of the challenges they face include connecting through the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, or Brussels, in Belgium.

“We are also expecting a competitive rate from RwandaAir as it will be a different flight and it will cut unnecessary charges and cost from our side and client side,” She said.

“We usually export fruits, especially avocados and other vegetables, and the flight usually takes 24 hours since it is transiting and not a direct flight. But with RwandAir flying straight to Paris, we expect it to take 12 hours or less.”

Rukundo said the prices of airline charges earlier increased from Rwf1.8 million to Rwf2.2 million, the latest being Rwf2.5 million because of the rise in fuel costs and taxes. As noted, the cost is $2.67 per kilo in terms of gross weight.

“Our markets are going to open up because we are getting a direct flight to France; saving time and getting to the market with good quality products. This means flying more products and increasing production which means an increase in employment opportunities,” Rukundo said.

Yves Ngenzi, the Coordinator of the Kigali-based East Africa Tourism Platform (EATP), thanked policy makers “who take these decisive and proactive actions to steer regional airlines to greater heights.”

Ngenzi said: “Air connectivity and affordability has been a major challenge throughout the region.

“This new route will help address issues of limited connectivity and, hopefully, reduce fares which are currently high, between Africa and Europe.”
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rwandan-flyer
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Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Tomorrow (30jul 2022) there is a Muscat Kigali flight operated by SalamAir, a low cost Omani, with an A320Neo.

The small peculiarity is that the flight is open for sale on the airline website. Entebbe is also on the wevsote, the airline has operated several flights since several months. Zanzibar also appears. Oman Air serves Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar and Nairobi. Ethiopian serves Muscat.

It should be noted that East Africa has important links with Oman since the Sultanate kingdom covered part of East Africa mainly Zanzibar but with "trade missions" they expended into Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda . People of African descent living in Oman are Afro Omanis who speak Swahili and Arabic

There are Arab people from Oman who live in East Africa. Many who live in Rwanda speak Kinyarwanda. After this history lesson, I wonder if like Entebbe there will be occasional flights to Kigali

In 2018 Oman Air (which has an interlining agreement with RwandAir) announced the plan to open a route to Kigali in the future, but the announcement made before covid


Muscat, June 12 - Oman Air will focus on making Muscat a transit hub by launching flights that will link the African and Asian continents

"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/article/546 ... cat-as-hub

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rwandan-flyer
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Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Kigali & RwandAir Express (sic) were added to Paris Aeroport destinations & airlines (as well as on the engine search) as the airline plans to serve Paris via Brussels: https://www.parisaeroport.fr/en/passeng ... irectory#k & https://www.parisaeroport.fr/en/passeng ... airlines#R

Air France flew to Kigali from 1972 to 1994. It was with AF that I made my first flight in 1988 (Kigali-Nairobi-Paris CDG 2A in 747), before going to Montpellier (France) in an A300 d 'Air Inter Paris CDG 2B-Montpellier.


@FlyRwandAir
·
4h

We’re pleased to announce that our CEO Yvonne Manzi Makolo will be speaking at this year's AVIATION AFRICA Summit & Exhibition in Kigali, Rwanda from 12-13th September 2022.https://twitter.com/FlyRwandAir/status/ ... 6717556737

@RwandainFrance
·
Jul 28

Today 28 July, Rwanda Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation DG, Mr Bagabo Charles and the Director of @BEA_Aero, Mr Rémi Jouty have signed an MoU on Co-operation and assistance in the field of aircraft incident and accident investigation https://twitter.com/RwandainFrance/stat ... 0931826688

Rwanda private helicpoter airline will add its first fixed wings and will provide (regular ?) flights on domestic cities from Kigali to Kamembe (served daily by RwandAir) and Rubavu (served by RwandAir till 2013). The airline has its own flight school both for helicpoters and fixed wings planes.


Akagera Aviation

@AkageraAviation
·
2h

We have been operating helicopters over the years, we are now happy to introduce our fixed-wing flights (Airplane), the very first of its own at a very affordable price. Kigali - Rubavu - Kigali Kigali - Kamembe - Kigali For more info, please reach out to us on +250788308382 https://twitter.com/AkageraAviation/sta ... 8291774467


Kigali Bugesera Airport as of July 2022.
© Fr∆nq

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rwandan-flyer
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Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Not seen last year. But Emirates Airlines (Emirates Executive) operates private flights to Rwanda on behalf of a tour operator "Roar Africa". The flights are operated in A319 ACJ of Emirates configured for 19 pax. This year new flights operated ( flights are full). Passengers will also visit Botswana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and therefore Rwanda

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=sea ... a%20rwanda

Last year "inaugural flight" with 10 tourists. Flight still operated by Emirates Executive

https://twitter.com/RDBrwanda/status/14 ... 09/photo/2

There is the A321Neo from La Compagnie for Safrans du Monde which will be operate flight to Kigali next year and last year Crystal Air Cruises cameto Rwanda with a B777-200LR. Airlines that come to Kigali are probavly happy that, the front classes must be well filled.

For F1 fans Lewis Hamilton is in Rwanda.


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RwandAir is looking for a GSA in Mexico, Argentina, Morocco, Turkey, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. Obviously, there is little chance to see RwandAir to serve these countries, but it seems that they want t to have a commercial presence. Surprising for Mexico and Argentina. For Mexico a desire to cover all of North America and for Argentina to have a small presence in South America https://www.rwandair.com/media-center/n ... les-agent/
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Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by sn26567 »

rwandan-flyer wrote: 12 Aug 2022, 20:13 Not seen last year. But Emirates Airlines (Emirates Executive) operates private flights to Rwanda on behalf of a tour operator "Roar Africa". The flights are operated in A319 ACJ of Emirates configured for 19 pax. This year new flights operated ( flights are full). Passengers will also visit Botswana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and therefore Rwanda

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=sea ... a%20rwanda
Do you have an idea of the cost of such flights? It is probably included in a package, but then what would be the cost of such a package tour?
André
ex Sabena #26567

rwandan-flyer
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Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

sn26567 wrote: 12 Aug 2022, 23:21
rwandan-flyer wrote: 12 Aug 2022, 20:13 Not seen last year. But Emirates Airlines (Emirates Executive) operates private flights to Rwanda on behalf of a tour operator "Roar Africa". The flights are operated in A319 ACJ of Emirates configured for 19 pax. This year new flights operated ( flights are full). Passengers will also visit Botswana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and therefore Rwanda

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=sea ... a%20rwanda
Do you have an idea of the cost of such flights? It is probably included in a package, but then what would be the cost of such a package tour?
It's a package which includes several countries


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Winter season 2022-2023 in Kigali (excluding RwandAir)

Brussels Airlines: 4 flights per week in A330-300 (a few days ago it was 3 flights per week) via Entebbe

Egyptair: 2 flights per week by B737-800 via Entebbe

Ethiopian Airlines: 2 flights per day in B737-700 / 800. Non-stop night flight, day flight 3 flights out of 7 via Bujumbura (Burundi)

KLM: 5 flights per week in A330-300 via Entebbe

Kenya Airways: 5 flights per week in ERJ-90 and B737-800, non stop.

Turkish Airlines: 6 flights per week in A330-200 / 300, Boeing 737 Max 8 / 9 via Entebbe

About Egytpair, I'm surprised the route seems to work well. The route opened one year before covid andwas relaunched end of 2020. No conecting on Egyptpair long hauls are possible (New York, Washington, Toronto, Bangkok, Beijing, Jakarta, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Mumbai). From Kigali to the rest of the world few connecting for Europe. The flight arrives too late in Cairo. Only the flight to Barcelona and the double daily flights to Paris CDG (2 flights per day at the weekend), London and Milan are available and the connectiig on Star Alliance hubs to Vienna (Austrian), Frankfurt (Lufthansa) which must pick up passengers.

After for the Middle East no pb, many conecting available.

Turkish is growing again in Rwanda. I don't know if the code share with RwandAir boosts booking, but the deployment of the A330 means that the airlineis happy in Rwanda. RwandAir has its WB code on the Istanbul-Paris CDG / Düsseldorf / Geneva / Zurich / Amsterdam lines, when at TK they have the code on the Kigali- Bujumbura / Douala / Bangui / Harare / Lusaka lines.

About Brussels Airlines and KLM we remain in normality. Kenya Airways still offers low frequencies. Demand between Kenya and Rwanda has not returned to a high level and connections in Nairobi seems to not boost bookings.

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Relations are improving between Tanzania and Rwanda. In the 2010s, relations were not good, with President Kikwete wanting Rwanda to negotiate a peace agreement with the FDLR which is currently in DR Congo, some soldiers have played a role in the Genocide against the Tutsi as part of the Interahamwe militias. Rwanda replied that the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program has been implemented and no peace agreements will ever be signed. RwandAir was also denied traffic rights between Dar Es Salaam and Mumbai, Tanzania wanting to give the rights to Air Tanzania.

But in recent years, relations have been better.

Tanzania Handover Rwanda’s Upper Airspace The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania with the counterpart Republic of Rwanda signed a deed of handover for the provision of Air Traffic Services in Rwanda's upper airspace above 24500ft. https://twitter.com/officialtcaa/status ... 4420406279

Earlier today, Hamza Johari, Director General of @officialtcaa visited Kigali International Airport and held a meeting with aviation stakeholders including the management of @RwandaAirports and @RwandaCAA. They shared experiences and best practices in regulatory services. https://twitter.com/RwandaAirports/stat ... 8595080193

At the same time Air Tanzania announces (for the 50th time) its return to Kigali. Air Tanzania had started its flights to Kigali at the end of the 1970s after the bankruptcy of East African Airways (which became Uganda Airlines, Air Tanzania and Kenya Airways). TC operated flghts to Dar Es Salaam, Mwanza and Kilimanjaro from Kigali. It seems to me that Zanzibar had also been linked to Kigali. TC suspended its flights in the early 2000s. In recent years it had announced the desire to relaunch its line to Kigali. Over the past 2-3 years, it has relaunched its flights to Entebbe, Nairobi and Bujumbura after sometimes more than 10-12 years of absence.

https://simpleflying.com/air-tanzania-e ... and-ghana/

traffic rights between Rwanda and Tanzania are limited. RwandAir using them for its flights on DAR and JRO and on Tanzanian side Coastal Aviation and Auric Air using them for its daily flights on Kigali
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rwandan-flyer
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Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Provably the first time, Ethiopian used 2 long haul aircraft on these 2 flights of the day on Kigali, on 10 Sept22.

ET810 operated via Bujumbura using B777-200LR (321 seats) currently back on ADD. Quite normal, most often when ET sends its long hauls to Kigali (via BJM or not) it is on the daily daytime flight.

ET821 which will leave ADD at 22:45 tonight. No tag, operated non-stop to Kigali using 787-8 (270 places). It is rare because on the daily night flight it is 737 and sometimes Dash Q400.


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The E2 (belonging to Air Peace) is back in Kigali as part of Aviation Africa which will be held in Kigali next week. It will be in static display. https://twitter.com/aviationafrica1/sta ... 0648377350

24 civil aviation directors, 130 airline representatives, 100 exhibitors, 1100 participants, 82 countries represented. There will be Boeing, Airbus, De Havilland, Paris Aeroport, Embraer,........

https://twitter.com/aviationafrica1/sta ... 7638762499
https://twitter.com/aviationafrica1/sta ... 1968068608

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A model of Bugesera airport. Latest version after the Qataris took over the project (so 2020) © Benjamin Tuyisabe

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Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by brusselsairlinesfan »

Do the Rwandair KGL BRU perform well ?

rwandan-flyer
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Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

brusselsairlinesfan wrote: 10 Sep 2022, 19:59 Do the Rwandair KGL BRU perform well ?
Article that i posted one year ago. Loads seem to be good. Kinshasa, Bujumbura, Kigali, Bangui and Accra were most popular destinations from BRU.

"A report from a Rwandan website about pax traveling on flights between Brussels and Kigali, operated by RwandAir.

Loads seem to be good (even if this is not a guarantee of profitability and that even before covid the RwandAir was not profitable).

Ayway what is interesting is that currently the most popular destinations from Brussels with RwandAir are:

Kigali (Rwanda), then Kinshasa (DR Congo), Bujumbura (Burundi). The 3 former Belgium colonies. More surprisingly, Bangui (Central African Republic) and Accra (Ghana).

Some Rwandans arrive from some cities in Europe pass through Brussels to travel with RwandAir. Others have decided to fly with RwandAir since the airline serves London Heathrow with the possibility of making connections with flights to the USA and Canada."

https://igihe.com/ubukerarugendo/articl ... -mu-burayi. You need to copy and paste the article for the translation. It doesn't work when you put the link.



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The Tel Aviv airport website shows 26 flights operated by RwandAir to Kigali, from 02 NOV 22 to 26 JAN 23.

The flight number that appears was used by RwandAir on its regular flights on TLV before the covid. I think these are flights for Israeli tour operators. No flight available on the RwandAir website.

For a point-to-point market estimated at 2,607 pax before covid between the flights of Arkia, RwandAir and the few flights of Israir and EL AL, it's not bad. Without necessarily targeting mass tourism (that's not Rwanda's strategy), if Rwanda can have such flights with some Europeans countries.

Loads factors on RwandAir service to TLV were not great according to the Israeli ambassador. That's probably why RwandAir didn't resume regular flights to TLV after the reopening of the borders:

How have travellers going to and from Kigali – Tel Aviv leveraged RwandAir connection?

So far, the flight is not full. There are some days when they are full, but most times not. I would say the flights are 30 to 35 per cent occupied on average. https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/i-want- ... dor-rwanda

Note that Ethiopian Airlines 60% of passengers travelling between ADD & TLV are connecting flights.

RwandAir


Aircraft: Boeing 737-800

Frequency: Three-weekly

Start date: 25 June 2019

Distance: 3,811 km

O&D traffic demand (2018): 2,607

Growth % YOY: 1.5%

Average one-way fare $ (2018): $726.11

https://www.routesonline.com/news/29/br ... h-ist-kix/

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Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Akagera Aviation welcomes two new Diamond aircraft

Akagera Aviation Flying Academy, based at Kigali International Airport (Rwanda), recently took delivery of one twin-engine DA42-VI and one single-engine DA40 NG Tundra version. These are the first Diamond aircraft for the flight school.

https://www.diamondaircraft.com/en/abou ... -aircraft/


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Africa's aviation stakeholders discuss industry recovery


The Aviation Africa Summit and Exhibition 2022 opened Monday in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, with participants discussing how the industry can accelerate recovery, promote sustainability and enhance the customer experience.

The summit is an opportunity to begin the work of making the aviation industry on the continent more sustainable and resilient against future shocks, said Rwanda's Minister of Infrastructure Ernest Nsabimana at the opening.

The event came after the COVID-19 pandemic had severely affected the aviation industry worldwide and Africa was no exception, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_W ... 416435.htm

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Rwanda Inc CEO, President Kagame with Qatar Airways CEO today in Kigali. On the right of the photo (2nd photo), it is the CEO of RwandAir. Rwanda is often presented as a big company headed by Kagame


Qatar Airways
@qatarairways
·
3h
Today in Kigali, Qatar Airways Group CEO met with the President of the Republic of Rwanda, His Excellency Mr. Paul Kagame during the African Aviation Summit 2022. 🇷🇼🇶🇦✈️ https://twitter.com/qatarairways/status ... 5637745666

https://twitter.com/BestBaguma/status/1 ... 04/photo/1


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Advertisement seen during the Aviation Africa today. No surprise RwandAir will serve CDG (see the luggage tag at the bottom left, with RwandAir name and Iata Air France code: mrgreen: ), so it will be a Kigali-Brussels-Paris CDG flight. For the A330Neo that we see on the advertisement, RwandAir did not receive it. Order canceled just like for the 737Max, due to covid19.

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Posts: 978
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Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Some details about the new version of Bugesera airport. Opening planned for 2024/2025.

The covid has slowed down the work, due to a lack of staff. Qatar had just taken over the project, everything had to be redone (tenders, etc.)

The capacity& for the first phase is now 8,200,000 pax per year instead of 7 million (and not 4,200,000 as Igihe says). 1st phase which was to be on the period 2022-2032. Surely postponed. Before covid, Kigali airport was at 1,144,000 pax per year. Capacity of the terminal was 400,000 pax (number exceeded in 2012). Kigali airport can no longer be expanded (2 expansion phases in 2012-2013 and 2019-2020) and with the increase in traffic, an airport had to be built anyway.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugesera_ ... al_Airport

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kigali_In ... al_Airport


About cargo capacity, a maximum of 150,000 tonnes of cargo per year. Very ambitious. I don't know if this figure will be reached but there is a potential in the tea, coffee, fruits, meat, flower and medical sector with a vaccine factory that will come into being, there will be possibilities to develop the cargo anyway

The VIP terminal will be able to accommodate up to 200 customers. The length of the track will be 4500m. Although RwandAir will play a role in the operation of the airport, there will be probably new airlines in the coming years to serve Rwanda. In my opinion, Uganda Airlines, Air Tanzania in the region, Emirates and Lufthansa outside Africa. In addition to KLM, Brussels Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Kenya Airways, Ethiopian and Egyptair which will surely increase their capacity.


https://www.taa.go.tz/pages/traffic-statistics

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Rwandans and travelers to Rwanda are affected by the major project of the Bugesera Airport, as one of the major investment projects expected to make Rwanda a hub for tourism, investment and other services in the region.

The reconstruction work started in 2017, and in 2019 the Government of Rwanda and Qatar Airways signed a cooperation agreement in the project worth 1.3 billion dollars.

The agreement was finalized in 2016 when Rwanda signed with Societe Mota-Engil Engenharia e Construção África, SA. of Portugal, to build the stadium in two phases, where it was planned that the construction of this stadium will cost 820 million dollars. Mota-Engil Africa was supposed to manage it for 25 years, with a possible extension of another 15.

The first phase of the project was due to be completed in 2022, but there will be changes including a redesign of the airport, which has come amid the Covid-19 crisis that has delayed work, resulting in a short staffing period.

The current plan is that the Bugesera Airport will be built in two phases, the first of which will be completed in 2024/25.

In the new agreement, the airport was given the capacity to receive at least 8.2 million passengers per year, while the previous plan was 4.5 million per year. At least at the current peak hour it will be able to accommodate 1225 people.

During this time, the participants of the African Aviation Conference being held in Kigali, had the opportunity to take a visual tour of the Bugesera Airport, and see all the parts that will be there.

It is a project under construction in Bugesera District, Rilima Sector.

It is a square with a large entrance gate, but the entrance of ordinary travelers is very different from the entrance of dignitaries, such as presidents.

There are also separate sections for passengers and cargo, especially since the transportation of goods is a business category that needs to be strengthened by airlines, because it speeds up the service rather than spending months on a ship at sea.

On the part dedicated to cargo equal to 27,000 square meters, it is planned that at least this yard will have the capacity to pass 150,000 tons per year, have five gates, and at least 30 places where the cargo can be loaded.

In terms of security, there is a place where staff can enter and be picked up, which is different from the normal way for passengers.

In the part reserved for dignitaries known as the Presidential Terminal Building, there are special buildings that can accommodate the president and his 200 dignitaries. It is about 6600 square meters.

Looking at the side of regular travelers, there are modern methods that help people announce that they have participated in their journey (check-in), where they are received, where their documents are checked and where they prepare for the flight.

It is a building with a total area of ​​120,000 square meters.

There is also a special place where security personnel vehicles such as Police, communication towers, etc. will be parked. The tower will be 59.6 meters high.

Regarding the parking lot, it is planned that in the first phase, 249 parking spaces will be built for the regular employees of the airport.

Meanwhile, on the part of the airport authorities, a parking lot for 254 cars has been planned, and 12 buses are available.

On the side of ordinary passengers, in the first stage there is a parking lot for 547 cars, while for passengers arriving at the airport, in the first stage there is a parking lot for 249 taxis and 9 big buses.

It is planned that on the side of the airport administration, a five-story building will be used, which can accommodate 820 people.

The road that will be used by planes when they land or take off at Bugesera airport, will be 4500 meters wide.

It is a much awaited project, mainly because of the expected profits.

When President Kagame launched the African conference on aviation, on this Monday, he said that this sector is expected to contribute significantly to the acceleration of Africa's development.

He said "Rwanda continues to make its contribution. Currently, RwandAir, the national airline, operates flights to 24 destinations, including 19 in Africa. We want to continue to increase it on the continent and beyond."

"We are working with our partner Qatar Airways to expand RwandAir and build a new airport, making Kigali the regional hub for passenger and cargo travel."

https://igihe.com/amakuru/u-rwanda/arti ... -na-benshi
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Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

RwandAir to join Oneworld (full member or an associate member)

It will fill the gap in Central, East and Southern Africa where Oneworld has a limited presence in thses regions with, only British Airways, Royal Air Maroc and Qatar Airways compared to SkyTeam (KLM, Delta, Air France, Kenya Airways) and Star Alliance (Ethiopian, Egyptair, Eurowings, Swiss, Edelweiss Air, Turkish Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, United)


RwandAir set to join global alliance of commercial airlines


The national carrier RwandAir is set to join The Oneworld Alliance, a major network bringing together different commercial airlines around the world.

According to officials, the move will significantly strengthen the carrier’s performance both on the African continent and beyond.

https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/1050 ... 0hgBJ14Ivw

Interersting facts in East Africa:

SkyTeam: Kenya Airways
Star Alliance: Ethiopian
Oneworld: RwandAir
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Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Kenya Airways will finally offer a daily flight this winter on Kigali-Nairobi route, instead of 5 flights per week. During the peak period in December, on Wednesday and Saturday there will be 2 flights per day. In total with RwandAir on some days there will be up to 5 flights per day. .

Rwanda is still in the top 10 of Kenya's import markets. 3rd in Africa https://www.the-star.co.ke/business/ken ... ers-up-91/

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The Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation XFS had a meeting with Rwandan Adefunke Adeyem, the Secretary General of the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC).

[...]


The minister also met with the head of the Rwanda Air company, Yvonne Manzi Makolo, and listened to a report on the funeral and the stages that the Rwanda Air company has gone through, so that the Somali government is currently working to restore Somali Airline. benefit from the experience of Rwanda Air.

https://radiohalgan-com.translate.goog/ ... r_pto=wapp

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New development about Bugesera airport. The Greeks are back in the game.

By the way, there is a great Greek restaurant in Rwanda the Hellenic, to test if one day you go to Rwanda :mrgreen:

Back to the serious stuff. CCC which had been dismissed by Qatar Airways could be part of the consortium: UCC and Moto Egil. Consolidated Contractors Co had teamed up with Turkey's Dogus to win the massive contract. Dogus with big plans in Rwanda. The Turks being more and more present in Rwanda.

As a result, the official announcement of the candidates who will build the airport, which was to take place this month, will be postponed. There is now talk of an announcement after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar which is a hotter file than Bugesera airport

Last minute discussions impact UCC and CCC's bid for Kigali airport deal

The twists and turns of who will build the Rwandan capital's airport with Qatari funds are continuing

https://www.africaintelligence.com/east ... 812678-art

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Embraer
@embraer
·
21h
The Minister of Infrastructure - Rwanda, Director General of Rwanda’s Civil Aviation Authority and CEO of @FlyRwandAir
were among key Dignitaries visiting our E195-E2 on display during Aviation Africa in Kigali this week. #WeAreEmbraer #EmbraerStories

https://twitter.com/embraer/status/1570124780980031489

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Posts: 978
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 12:30

Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Ministry of Infrastructure | Rwanda
@RwandaInfra
·
Sep 28
On the sideline of @icao
in #Montreal,Minister @RwandaInfra
@Dr_ENsabimana
and The Rt Hon. @annietrev
MP, the Secretary of State for #Transport in the #UnitedKingdom signed the upgrade of MOU for the existing Bilateral Air Services Agreement.@RwandaCAA https://twitter.com/RwandaInfra/status/ ... 6784849920


EU@ICAO
@EU_ICAO
Day 2 of @icao
Assembly for #TeamEurope :
Very good exchanges between 🇪🇺 Delegation and Delegations of Rwanda / Canada / South Africa / Qatar

https://twitter.com/EU_ICAO/status/1575227638058168321


Rwanda Embassy in Qatar
@RwandainQatar
·
17h
Yesterday, Ambassador @IMarara
paid a courtesy call to Sheikh Jabor Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Director General of the Qatar Aeronautical Academy @qaa_qatar
, and discussed aspects of cooperation in the aviation training academy.

https://twitter.com/RwandainQatar/statu ... 4269789185


On the Paris Aéroport website, RwandAir flights are now displayed. 3 flights per week in the A330-300...from October 31, 2022. It's quite short for an announcement. It will be during the All Saints holidays in France, but after November it is quite quiet. However African flights have often good load factors at CDG.

Probably Brussels would go from 3 flights per week to 6 flights per week: 3 flights with London Heathrow and 3 with Paris Cdg. Otherwise the T3 is on that is not the 2E. But at least in the evening it will not be crowded. I had the opportunity to travel from this terminal, with EasyJet (when its planes were based at T3 before going to 2B), Lotus Air and Air Transat.


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Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Article I forgot to post. The First Secretary in charge of Economic and Political Affairs · High Commission of the Republic of Rwanda was interviewed by the Jakarta Post during the ILTM Asia Pacific 2022 held in Singapore, in early September 2022.

Rwanda is expected to receive between 1,120,000 and 1,280,000 tourists this year, or between 70% and 80% of pre-covid. Compared to 512,000 in 2021 and 490,000 in 2020 https://www.tourismupdate.co.za/article ... revenue-25

It's mainly the neighboring countries that concentrate a large part of the tourists: DRC, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania. The USA should remain the largest market outside Africa, followed by the United Kingdom and India.

It is also possible that there are more and more French people, with the improved relations between Rwanda and France and especially the end of visas for French people coming to Rwanda.

https://www.thejakartapost.com/culture/ ... idies.html

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From the end of October 2022, RwandAir will increase its flights to Doha and Dubai.Doha will be served from 3 to 6 flights per week. The 3 new flights will be operated with a different schedule. This is to target point-to-point at least local pax to & from Kigali, as well as connections to Entebbe and Nairobi. And then give more choices to Doha for connections on Qata Airways

Same for Dubai which will be served from 7 flights per week to 11 flights per week, we are targeting local passengers traveling to and from Kigali, as well as connections to Entebbe and Nairobi.

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Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

Rwanda and RwandAir present at IMEX America 2022 in Las Vegas. The IMEX is a fair with the objective of promoting MICE (Business tourism and events (sports,....)). Before Covid, Rwanda was ranked 4th in Africa for MICE. With the lifting of restrictions, Rwanda is once again in great demand:

There was the summit of mayors of the Francophonie, the various continental African sports competitions, the Commonwealth summit, the World Telecommunication Development Conference. Currently there is the 145th conference of the Interparliamentary Union: 1000 delegations. Moreover, on October 9 and 15, Ethiopian Airlines has and will send its 787-8 to Kigali on the daily flight operated during the day, instead of a B737-800. The daily night flight will be operated by B737-800

https://imexamerica.eventreference.com/ ... hp?id=5oeX


https://twitter.com/FlyRwandAir/status/ ... 8812953600
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Interesting interview of RwandAir's GSA in Italy. There is obviously no question of opening of routes between Italy and Rwanda. But to reach the Italian market, now taking advantage of the partnership between Qatar Airways and RwandAir, which facilitates travel times. RwandAir has code share on Doha-Venice, Doha-Milan and Doha-Rome.

We learn that there is a demand for VFR, but also a growing demand for religious tourism.

For football fan Mauro Icardi ex-PSG player and his ex-wife Wanda made Rome-Doha-Kigali in May 2022, when they spent a stay in Rwanda. https://www.eltrecetv.com.ar/noticias/w ... rio_170870

An Indonesian living in Italy with an Italian who did Rome-Doha-Kigali-Doha-Rome in biz and eco (videos in Indonesian without subtitles)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m7bkvQtdmY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn0utk9Cxn4&t=63s

Alitalia also had a code share via Nairobi and Kenya Airways on Kigali

Rwandair will be at TTG Travel Experience 2022 in Rimini, the African airline not so well known on the Italian market, will also be there due to the fact that it does not currently have direct flights to and from the BelPaese. The TTG is an excellent showcase for expanding existing relationships with the market and looking for new ones.

https://www-advtraining-it.translate.go ... r_pto=wapp
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Re: RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2022

Post by rwandan-flyer »

From November 6, 2022, RwandAir will serve Cape Town and Harare for the first time with a daily flight. The flight will still be KG-HRE-CPT. The Kigali Harare sector is operated in code share with Turkish Airlines

Currently the airlines operates 3 flights per week mainly in CRJ-900NG, but sometimes in B737-700 / 800 and more rarely in A330-300.

There will be 17 flights per week to South Africa:

Johannesburg: 10 weekly flights
Cape Town: 7 flights per week.

Moreover, in March 2023, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of flights between South Africa and Rwanda. The first flight was operated with a CRJ-200ER leased from South African Express Airways. It was a Kigali-Lubumbashi-Johannesburg. CRJ subsequently replaced by a DC-9 eventually and then a B737-200 leased from South African Airways.

Post-apartheid era when Mandela and Mbeki's South Africa made large investments in Africa, in particular with MTN (telecom company) and South African Airways (Air Tanzania,...) and Alliance Air (South African Airways + l Uganda and Tanzania) which had bought Rwandair (formerly Air Rwanda before the Genocide of the Tutsi in 1994).

https://www.google.com/search?q=allianc ... nt=gws-wiz

From 06 November 2022, RwandAir will split its Kigali-London Heathrow-Brussels route. From November 6, 2022, London Heathrow will be served without the stop via Brussels, still 3 times a week. Same thing with BRU.
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