Article from Jeune Afrique. Talks with Qatar Airways are complicated. The file is now n the hands of the Qatari government since weeks. Like Bugesera airport, I think we will have to wait until the end of the World Cup to see if things will move.
In the worst scenario we will have a scenario "à la" Ethiopian, Brussels Airlines or Meridiana (now Air Italy). In 2007, Rwanda had selected Brussels Airlines as a partner for the privatization of RwandAir but at the last minute everything stopped. SN has created AirDc that became Korongo Airlines. Meridiana has created Air Uganda
https://allafrica.com/stories/200707240684.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korongo_Airlines
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Uganda
In 2015 negotiations began with Ethiopian Airlines, we don't really know what happened either, but the government of Rwanda ended discussions in 2019: (article from 2015)
https://www.reuters.com /article/us-ethiopia-airlines-idINKBN0KM1RT20150113
There was also Etihad... But the Emiratis said no quickly probably because they were already strugging with Alitalia or Air Berlin
https://www.arabianbusiness.com/industr ... -s-etihad- airways-turns-down-stake-in-rwandair-602323
About the RwandAir 737 freighter, it arrived yesterday. Rwandan businessmen and women hope for a reduction in prices combined with a better efficient logistics chain, including storage areas adapted to be able to export a large number of Rwandan products: meat, fruits, flowers, tea, coffee. , especially vegetables. Anout the 1st destinations: Nairobi, Johannesburg and Dubai. Destinations already served in pax flight by RwandAir.
https://www.rwandair.com/media-center/n ... freighter/
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While waiting for Qatar Airways, RwandAir is multiplying projects
The airline, which has just received its first Boeing 737 dedicated to freight, also sees the possibility of serving the United States.
On November 24, RwandAir took delivery of a Boeing 737-800 Freighter, its very first dedicated cargo aircraft. An acquisition that reveals the importance of freight, which was almost non-existent in 2017, in the company's business plan in recent years.
Started in 2018 with the transport of 2,300 tons of goods, against 84 tons in 2017, this surge has not been denied, even during the Covid: RwandAir transported 3,253 tons in 2020 and 3,889 tons in 2021, mainly to Dubai, Belgium and the UK, according to figures from the Rwanda Development Board. A development "all the more important as the country is landlocked," said Yvonne Makolo, the company's general manager, in a press release.
The United States, a new possibility
This acquisition follows a few weeks the inauguration of direct flights between Kigali and London Heathrow, which Rwandair had hitherto served via Brussels, with an increase in frequencies. Before the addition, in the coming months, of Luanda, Maputo or Paris on the map of destinations, Yvonne Makolo said on November 16 during a webinar offered by the Association of African Air Carriers (Afraa) .
In addition, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on November 23 that the Republic of Rwanda has obtained a "Category 1" safety assessment, which attests to its compliance with the standards of the Civil Aviation Organization. international (ICAO). This means, the administration says, that “duly licensed Rwandan air carriers can serve the United States and enter into codeshare agreements with American carriers without restriction”.
Destinations closed in the DRC
In addition to its new freighter, Rwandair, which has restored 80% of its pre-Covid activity according to its CEO, currently operates a rather disparate fleet of twelve aircraft – two Airbus A300s, six Boeing 737s and four Bombardiers ( CRJ900ER and Dash 8-Q400). The company flies to 28 destinations in East, Central, West and Southern Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. In May, faced with rising tensions between the DRC and Rwanda, it had however had to close its three Congolese destinations, namely Kinshasa, Goma and Lubumbashi.
If the airline suffered, like many others, from the Covid-19 crisis, it benefited from May 2020 from government aid in the amount of 145.1 billion Rwandan francs (139 million euros).
Complicated negotiations
The Rwandan pavilion is enjoying a great boost, while it will soon be three years since the entry of the new shareholder, Qatar Airways, is expected. On February 5, 2020, the latter had indeed formalized his intention to buy 49% of the capital of RwandAir, without this being, for the moment, followed by effect. “We are still in the process of finalizing the legal aspects and the capital structure,” Yvonne Makolo clarified during the November 16 webinar. For his part, Qatar Airways' Vice-President Africa, Hendrik Du Preez, assured Jeune Afrique in July that the file is "discussed at the highest level and directly managed by the government's communication office".
The Covid crisis, which has hit airlines' finances hard, partly explains why Qatar Airways, even if it is owned by a powerful gas monarchy, hesitates twice before investing an amount probably in the hundreds of millions of dollars. in a carrier that has yet to break even.
Especially since the lifting of the air blockade inflicted on Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt between 2017 and January 2021 has made the conclusion of a strategic partnership less vital. Qatar Airways being able to fly again over the territories of these countries, this has undoubtedly hardened, in passing, the conditions of a possible agreement. The two companies emphasize, however, that their rapprochement continues: in December 2021, three months after signing a codeshare agreement, Qatar Airways thus closed its Kigali-Doha route, leaving its partner officer alone on the section.
https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1396014/ec ... a315098dc8Rwanda Aviation News (Drones, Air Force, Civil Aviation, Space, Air Balloon): https://www.facebook.com/RwandAn-Flyer-153177931456873
