RwandAir & Rwandan Aviation News 2025

[musayann]

It seems that RwandAir has been operating charter flights from Cotonou to Medina using their A330-300, likely for travelers going on pilgrimage. It's a good idea that they are tapping into that market.

[rwandan-flyer]

They operated their first ever flights last year from Kigali to Medina. But i m quite surprise to see them send an A330 while they are still stuggling to operate their long haul flights. 9XR-WN is back from Stansted and yes they have another A330 in lease, but 9XR-WN is still in Spain. However they have now 3 A330s in service, but quite surprising.

269 ​​passengers on board the A330-300 for the first flight: https://www-24haubenin-info.translate.g ... r_pto=wapp

Video in French https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9IEvxYp7tE

However as you said it's another way to earn money. They have also just launched their own holiday plateform (RwandAir Holidays)

[musayann]

My assumption is that 9XR-WX was originally scheduled to return from maintenance earlier, and then 9XR-WP was scheduled to operate the charter flights. That’s likely why they wet-leased the Hi Fly A330. However, the maintenance on 9XR-WX might have took longer than expected, which caused disruptions to the schedule.

Since last week, 9XR-WX was scheduled to fly back to Kigali, but the flight kept being rescheduled until today — now it’s finally back.

9XR-WP resumed service to London last night. With all 3 aircraft now back in service (4 for now), the disruptions should stop. The Hi Fly A330 is still there, but will likely return it later this week.

It also appears that yesterday, they operated another charter flight to Jeddah for the Rwandan Muslim community using their B737-800.

[rwandan-flyer]

RwandAir CEO met few days ago the Australia's High Commissioner to Kenya which is accredited to Rwanda who was in Rwanda few days ago (https://x.com/AusHCKenya/status/1928424180250259861). I don't know why, but probably some partnership between Australia and Rwanda in Aviation (training, consultancy,...). RwandAir has already its WB code on all Qatar Airways btw Doha and Australia. Always a pleasure to see Rwanda (my native country) starts partnerships with countries where i live (France) or where i have family (Franco-Aussie Uncle, Aunt and Cousins in Australia).

Yvone Makolo also met the Indian High Commissioner in Rwanda. It seems Indians want to see RwandAir again in India (https://x.com/IndiaKigali/status/1930575567465644420). I don't thnik it's good idea. Ok point to point demand btw Kigali and Mumbai is higher than when RwandAir served BOM (almost the double). But competition is stiff, Kigali is a small hub and the B738 (needs tech stop) is not the right aircraft, the A330 is too big (only "great" if they tag flights again with Canton). Or Qatar Airways sends some A321NEO / LR ordered to RwandAir^^ . Uganda Airlines is struggling since their 1st flight on the Entebbe Mumbai despite a bigger market. I m talking with Indian avgeek living in Kigali. Him or his family (from both side living in Rwanda and India) used to fly with RwandAir or Ethiopian between Rwanda and India. Last time in 2025, they took the ....bus between Kigali and Kampala to fly with Uganda Airlines. Flights were empty.

[rwandan-flyer]

RwandAir will lease another A330. However, I don't know if this is the one planned to be the fourth A330 or if it's a temporary lease, since RwandAir should logically begin operating return flights from the Hajj. Rwandan pilgrims returned yesterday. They have to repatriate those living in Benin.

The A330 is operated by Hifly 9H-MFS (2nd lease in row from Hifly for RwandAir). A Portugal-Rwanda axis is being created in aviation^^. Although its participation has decreased in favor of the Qataris, Mota Engil is still one of the main partners in the construction of the new Kigali airport. The next step is the arrival of TAP Air Portugal in Rwanda. I'm joking, of course.

Jun 15, 2025 Faro (FAO) Kigali (KGL) WB9700 — 5:25 PM — 3:03 AM
Estimated departure 5:35 PM
Jun 15, 2025 Beja (BYJ) Faro (FAO) WB9700 — 3:45 PM — 4:09 PM
Estimated departure 3:50 PM

The first of the two B737-800s that are due to join the RwandAir fleet made its first flight yesterday in Kuala Lumpur under RwandAir colours spotted by Malaysians
https://www.instagram.com/johnkkho/p/DK ... mg_index=1, https://www.instagram.com/p/DK6GUF5h1CX/)

And a RwandAir 737-800 9XR-WQ, which will depart to Toulouse Fanzacal tonight.

[rwandan-flyer]

Well, Qatar Airways is returning to Kigali tomorrow, and I was expecting Emirates or Lufthansa to be the next airline to arrive in Rwanda. Well, I didn't see that one coming. Badr Airlines has announced a Port Sudan-Kigali route. I'm still skeptical about the profitability of this route.

Point-to-point demand is low. But I wouldn't be surprised if the demand didn't come from Sudanese living in Rwanda. In 2023, there were 2,000 of them in Rwanda coming to study following the civil war in their country (https://trt.global/afrika-english/article/14308899). Then we have to separate the Sudanese who have been established in Rwanda for several years, those who fled the war, and those who were repatriated from Libya, the latter (asylum seekers) in my opinion, have no intention to travel Sudan at this time.

Added to this, Badr Airlines serves some important markets for Kigali (over 110,000 passengers per year in the top 5):

Dubai: 44,000 passengers
Addis Ababa: 30,200 passengers
Doha: 21,100 passengers
Juba (South Sudan): 11,000 passengers
Cairo: 7,900 passengers

Curious to see if the point-to-point demand between Kigali and Amman (served by Badr) will increase. Jordanians are beginning to invest in Rwanda, and Rwandans are going to study in Jordan. Rwanda has opened an embassy in Amman, and visa restrictions have been lifted from both sides.

But I remain skeptical about the success of this route. I hope I'm wrong. I assume the route could be a tag service via Entebbe or Juba. RwandAir served Juba, and Rwanda deployed humanitarian and military personnel on behalf of the UN. https://www.facebook.com/BdrAirlines/po ... 1RJi6YEvcl

Edit : Badr serves Entebbe from Juba and not Port Sudan. It's Tarco Aviation which serves EBB from Port Sudan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entebbe_I ... al_Airport

[rwandan-flyer]

First flight to Badr to Kigali from July 9, 2025 in 2 weeks. It's very a short time while reservations not yet open https://www.facebook.com/BdrAirlines/po ... EECeVCrm1l

[rwandan-flyer]

About Badr Airlines flights to Kigali, here are some informations:

The Badr Airlines Regional Director was in Rwanda this week and meet the Sudanese ambassador in Kigali (and probably meet some members of the Sudanese diaspora in Rwanda) : https://x.com/EKigali42445/status/1937836472259731761

Flights will be operated 1 time a week and the routing will be Port Sudan Juba Kigali. So Juba is back on the Kigali Airport network, after RwandAir (which now operates only A330 charter flights for Rwandan Army) ended flights during the covid.

Wednesdays: Port Sudan – Juba – Kigali
Thursdays: Kigali – Juba – Port Sudan

It seems that the aircraft will sleep at Kigali. https://www.facebook.com/hotinjuba/post ... zBuZzVgjol
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Some pics (https://www.instagram.com/rwanda_airpor ... mg_index=1) and one video (https://www.instagram.com/rwanda_airpor ... VNgU_tCmP/) of the return of Qatar Airways in Rwanda (Iberia, American Airlines, Virgin Australia have already put their code share on the route), yesterday on the Rwanda Airport Company Instagram page. RwandAir keep flying to Doha, there will be 10 flights a week between Doha and Kigali

[rwandan-flyer]

An interesting (and rare) interview in English, which I haven't seen in its entirety yet. I say rare because Rwandan media often rarely interview people involved in the Rwandan aviation industry (which is a shame). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkuW0Mg ... IHEEnglish

Fouad Caunhye is a former manager of Qatar Airways (2021-2024) in South Africa and former manager of Emirates in East Africa, West Africa, and then South Africa (2001-2021). He therefore has a good knowledge of Africa and the Middle East.

Haven't seen everything yet, but there are quite a few interesting things about operations. The fact that RwandaAir doesn't have a large domestic network means there's no way to rely on the domestic network to support flights within and outside Africa. Finding the right balance between aircraft utilization and the cost of air travel in Africa. The fourth A330 is expected to arrive in August 2025 and the two B737-800s in September 2025.

We learned that, in addition to Mombasa and Zanzibar, which are expected to open in late 2025, and more surprisingly, Jeddah is expected to follow in late 2025/early 2026, along with a destination in the Indian Ocean. He mentions Madagascar. He's quite surprised by the last two destinations. However, Jeddah is experiencing significant demand on the RwandAir network:

Nairobi (87,660 passengers), Johannesburg (63,000 passengers), Entebbe (40,930 passengers), Lagos (28,680 passengers), Dar Es Salaam (18,800 passengers), Accra (13,345 passengers). For Kigali, it's 2,130 passengers. This represents an opportunity to stimulate point-to-point demand (religious and business tourism). We talk about Qatar and Rwanda, the Emirates and Rwanda, but the Saudis are increasingly present in Rwanda. They are also the ones who helped Rwanda open its first pilot school with Nexus.

Note that Saudia has its SV code for Kigali and Nairobi, operated by Kenya Airways, and RwandAir has its WB code for Doha Jeddah route (as well as Doha Riyadh and Damman routes).

I'm a little more cautious about Madagascar. The major markets served by RwandAir: Paris CDG (147,000 passengers), Dubai (25,580 passengers), Nairobi (12,745 passengers), London Heathrow (12,384 passengers), and Kigali (3,000 passengers). I didn't include Johannesburg, as the detour is huge, and there are flights between JNB and Madagascar.

Of course, Qatar Airways will be able to send passengers via Kigali to Madagascar via its Doha hub.

[rwandan-flyer]

In relative anonymity, Badr Airlines launched its Port Sudan-Juba-Kigali route yesterday. Flights between Juba and Kigali are once again available. Since 2019, all the airlines that have opened routes to Rwanda have come from the Arab world: Egyptair, Qatar Airways (reopening), and Badr Airlines. Royal Air Maroc and SalamAir (Sultanate of Oman) are expected to be the next airlines to arrive in Rwanda.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DL5TB1LooF5/?img_index=3

Note that RwandAir is currently using its A330s to Johannesburg instead of the CRJ 900s or B737-800s. This is not the first time, but it's rare. I don't know if this is due to fleet tension among the 737s. The last 737-700 has left the fleet, and one has been in storage for almost a year. Or if there's a high demand: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/wb109

The interview with the COO of RwandAir in French for those who want it. I don't know his nationality, but he speaks French very well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KPugIs ... 360Afrique

[Harshal]

According to the Botswana press, RwandAir is considering to serve Gaborone. Botswana civil aviation is under discussion. If RwandAir serves GBE, there will necessarily tag service. In the region RwandAir would also target Maputo and Luanda, si probably a tag service via one of two cities or else via Lusaka. Johannesburg can be served non-stop (this is the case on the daily night flight).

To be continued.https://www.mmegi.bw/business/caab-in-t ... news-24986

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Saudia has extended its SV cide to Kigali from Nairobi. Maybe in the medium term, it could lead to new route from JED. To tap into the trafic from the United States, England and India to Rwanda. And aslo from , Germany and the Netherlands. Relations between Saudi Arabia and Rwanda were strengthened this month with the respective visits of the two foreign affairs ministries: one to Rwanda and the other to Saudi Arabia. Nexus Aero, is in Rwanda since more 10 years, they have created the very first fixed-wing aviation school in Rwanda.

Egyptair, KLM and Turkish Airlines started by doing code share on Kigali before to open their own toutes... They still offer code share to Kigali

Kenya Airways has extended its codeshare agreement with Saudia. The agreement will allow the SkyTeam alliance partners to offer additional services from their hubs in Nairobi (NBO) and Jeddah (JED). From Nairobi, codeshares will be available to Mombasa, Entebbe, Dar es Salaam and Kigali. From Jeddah, the agreement covers routes to Riyadh, Bahrain, Karachi and Kuwait. “The extension of the codeshare with Saudia will provide our customers with more choice and flexibility for travel this summer, especially for those travelling for the upcoming Hajj pilgrimage,” Kenya Airways chief commercial and customer officer Julius Thairu said. “The agreement is an opportunity for both airlines to work together to improve flight options and connectivity.”

https://www.ceoafrica.co.ke/kenya-airwa ... -airlines/

There is a duel between Algiers and Rabat on the Maghreb side and Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi on the Middle East side to win the biggest contracts in Rwanda.


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16 May 2022

Rwanda In Nigeria
@RwandainNigeria On behalf of @RwandaCAA, today, Amb. @KamanziS signed, with Captain Musa Nuhu, Director General @NigerianCAA
, a new MoU on technical cooperation in the field of flight safety standards.

#RwandainNigeria https://twitter.com/RwandainNigeria/sta ... fdha4qAAAA
kolkata fatafat

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Network Airline Services Appointed as Sole Cargo GSSA for RwandAir in Scandinavia: https://network-airline.com/network-air ... n=RwandAir

RwandAir’s growing ambition is impressive. The possible launch of service to Gaborone, likely via Maputo, Luanda or Lusaka, shows smart regional planning. The Saudia codeshare to Kigali could hint at a future direct Jeddah–Kigali route, especially with rising ties between Rwanda and Saudi Arabia. It’s encouraging to see Rwanda forming partnerships, like the new MoU with Nigeria on flight safety. The competition among Middle Eastern and North African hubs for influence in Rwanda signals how important Kigali is becoming. From passenger routes to cargo, Rwanda’s aviation journey reflects vision, resilience, and growing global relevance. A bright flight path ahead.

[rwandan-flyer]

Some images and videos of Badr Airlines' inaugural flight. The plane was empty departing from Port Sudan. However, the plane seemed to be "quite full" departing from Juba. We can see mainly families and young people. The flights were announced two weeks before the 1st flight. When Khartoum airport will be operational again, flights will depart from KRT.

A Rwandan newspaper reported on this. We are clearly in a niche market between Rwanda and Sudan. I am quite surprised by the figures, which I thought would be much lower.

$200 million in trade, despite the war. Rwanda mainly exports tea and coffee. The Sudanese come to Rwanda to buy them.

There are 5,000 Sudanese (slightly more than the Indians or Americans living in Rwanda) living in Rwanda (Rwanda's total population is 14 million). These are students (20% of the international student population in Rwanda) or entrepreneurs investing in small factories and agricultural projects.

All of this data does not include South Sudan. Depending on demand, the company will increase the number of flights. I remain skeptical about this route but if it works, it's good.

https://en.igihe.com/news/article/sudan ... m-annually

https://www.instagram.com/p/DMBCJ23t4HE/?hl=en

https://x.com/EKigali42445/status/1943640845388751337

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 6988475670



Thanks to Mach1Spotter, an Indian Spotter living in Rwanda, who spotted today's Badr Airlines flight.

[rwandan-flyer]

RwandAir’s growing ambition is impressive. The possible launch of service to Gaborone, likely via Maputo, Luanda or Lusaka, shows smart regional planning. The Saudia codeshare to Kigali could hint at a future direct Jeddah–Kigali route, especially with rising ties between Rwanda and Saudi Arabia. It’s encouraging to see Rwanda forming partnerships, like the new MoU with Nigeria on flight safety. The competition among Middle Eastern and North African hubs for influence in Rwanda signals how important Kigali is becoming. From passenger routes to cargo, Rwanda’s aviation journey reflects vision, resilience, and growing global relevance. A bright flight path ahead.

A focus on Rwandan aviation, in the July-September 2025 issue of African Aerospace. I won't focus on RwandAir and the new Kigali airport, but rather on lesser-discussed topics.
https://aviationweek.com/sites/default/ ... tember.pdf

Just to say that RwandAir is close to reaching its break-even point (not yet profits) and that the company estimates that over the next 10 years, it will need 400 pilots, 800 cabin crew, and 185 mechanics (based on the future size of its fleet).

Training is at the heart of Rwanda, with the opening of an aviation school at the end of 2027 in addition to the one owned by Akagera Aviation. The school also has a simulator. So far, the vast majority of students have been recruited by RwandAir or the Rwandan Air Force. However, the goal is of course to attract students from other African countries. Akagera Aviation, the other Rwandan company founded in 2004, operates 10 helicopters (three new ones are expected to arrive in the coming years) and a fleet of training aircraft with Tecnam and Diamond aircraft. The company is also expected to add Cessna Caravans and King Air.

About the current Kigali airport, the projected traffic in 2025 is 1,500,000 passengers, 200,000 more than in 2024. The closure of routes to Cape Town, Mumbai, Cotonou, Abuja, and Brazzaville has no impact on traffic. Based on the number of seats available (1,990,000 down vs 2024 due to the closure of RwandAir routes (https://www.routesonline.com/suppliers/ ... g-nirvana/), it means an average 75% load factor to and from Kigali vs 44% in 2016**. On the cargo side, 20,000 tons handled at Kigali in 2024.

The airport has almost reached its capacity limit after two terminal expansion periods (2012-2013 and 2020-2021), and in the morning and evening, the airport is saturated: depending days up 20 flights (arrivals + departures) between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m. (RwandAir, Kenya Airways, Badr Airlines, Auric Air, Coastal Aviation, and Ethiopian) and 20 flights (RwandAir, KLM, Brussels Airlines, and Kenya Airways) between 6 p.m. and midnight. Depending periods in the year there are between 50 and 55 commercial flights each day. We learn that the airport is working with other airlines, but no names have been provided. But I think Royal Air Maroc or Salamair (Oman) could be included.

** The routesonline article on the future Kigali airport is interesting. The only problem is that the last traffic data they use for Kigali is from 2016 (716,000 pax). So the article doesn't mention that Kigali exceeded 1 million passengers in 2019 and again in 2023.

[rwandan-flyer]

One of the 737-800s that RwandAir is due to receive this year was delivered this week. It is currently parked in Kigali:

Boeing 737-8H6 40148 4512 9XR-WT RwandAir delivery 22-23 Jul 25 KUL-CMB-KGL, 2-reg ex 2-TONY

https://www.skyliner-aviation.de/regdb. ... av4&page=3

Good news for Brussels Airlines

KLM currently appears to be reducing its flights to Kigali / Entebbe to 3 flights per week for the winter (currently daily this summer). Apart from during COVID, it has never operated so few flights to Rwanda & Uganda (between 5 and 7 flights per week). I doubt it's a demand issue, but more a question of aircraft availability. KLM has been retiring its A330-200s and A330-300s for several years.

Kenya Airways operates up to 5 flights a day to Entebbe and up to 4 flights a day to Kigali. There 2 flights a day between Amsterdam and Nairobi with KLM and KQ so KLM can send pax via Nairobi. You have also Paris with KQ and AF to and from Nairobi.

According to ATDB. Three more A330-300s are scheduled to retire in December 2025. Only one A330-300 will remain. As for the A330-200, only six remain. Apparently, PH-AOB and PH-AOC were scheduled to retire in April 2020, but have been reactivated.

KLM uses its A330s on the Caribbean, Washington, Miami, and sometimes Houston, as well as on Canada, Saudi Arabia, Uganda tagged with Rwanda, and Nigeria. The airline will increase its flights to the Caribbean this winter (https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/250506-klnw25sxmpos & https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/250714-klnw25auabon), as well as to Miami (3 to 4 flights per week https://www.aeroroutes.com/eng/250613-klnw25na), which leaves little room.

I won't talk about the summer 2026 program, even if bookings are now open. We will see if the airline will return to daily service or replace its A330s on the route with another aircraft.

[rwandan-flyer]

RwandAir will start Zanzibar Mombasa service from 1DEC25. About Mombasa, they will resume flights that ended in 2019, tagged till late 2017 with Dubai.

TAG Travel Assignment Group
@TAGTravel_Za
From December 1, RwandAir will launch four weekly flights to Zanzibar and Mombasa on a triangular route. Schedules & flights & bookings with TAG agents. https://x.com/TAGTravel_Za/status/1955491557454516656

Another visit for my bro at Mombasa but this time from France with RwandAir ?

[musayann]

The new B737-8 9XR-WT entered service today, operating its first flight to Entebbe. The airline is still facing an aircraft shortage, especially since the other B737-8 9XR-WQ is still at Doha Airport, possibly due to a technical issue earlier this month.

[rwandan-flyer]

Yes in deed and the two CRJs are currently grounded.

The next B737-800 also an ex Malaysia Airlines should arrive in Oct25. No infos about the 4th A330 which was supposed to arrive this month.

[musayann]

Yes in deed and the two CRJs are currently grounded.

The next B737-800 also an ex Malaysia Airlines should arrive in Oct25. No infos about the 4th A330 which was supposed to arrive this month.

Given that they had planned to retire them this year, I suppose it’s safe to say the CRJs won’t be returning to service.

[rwandan-flyer]

Yes probably the arrival of the 2 B737-800s will lead the retirement of the CRJs. Like the Q400 which will leave the fleet, the CRJ is no longer in production and it's getting harder to get aircraft aircraft spare parts (post covid doesn't help)

[musayann]

Yes probably the arrival of the 2 B737-800s will lead the retirement of the CRJs. Like the Q400 which will leave the fleet, the CRJ is no longer in production and it's getting harder to get aircraft aircraft spare parts (post covid doesn't help)

The second B737-800 is being delivered. The CRJs haven’t flown recently, so I would say they are now officially retired.

With the arrival of the second B737-800, I think this should allow them to increase frequencies on some routes while they await the launch of services to Mombasa and Zanzibar.