Rwandair Express

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Rwandair Express
IATA
WB
ICAO
RWD
Callsign
RWANDAIR
Founded 2003 ?
Hubs Kigali International Airport
Frequent flyer program ?
Fleet size 5
Destinations 7
Headquarters ? Kigali
Key people ? (CEO)
Website: http://www.rwandair.com/

Rwandair Express is an airline based in Kigali, Rwanda. It is the national carrier operating services to southern and East Africa. Its main base is Kigali International Airport.[1]

Contents

[edit] Code Data

[edit] History

Rwandair Express was established in 2003 as a joint venture between the Rwandan Government (77%) and Silverback Cargo Freighters (23%). It started operations on 27 April 2003.[1] It intially leased a Boeing 737-500 from the Danish airline Maersk Air. The Boeing 737 was returned to Maersk Air in May 2004. This was replaced by a leased McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (3D-MDJ) from JetAfrica in June, 2004. However, while on a service to the Netherlands for Acvila Air (Romania), the aircraft was grounded. The grounding was due to old navigation maps and multiple technical proplems resulting in Acvila Air and JetAfrica being banned from Dutch airspace. Rwandair Express has replaced the aircraft with MD-82 (YR-MDL) leased from Acvila Air. In 2006, Rwandair leased Bombardier Dash 8-202 from the Ethiopian Airline Trans Nation Airways (TNA).

Rwandair is compliant with international regulations unlike many African airlines. It is a registered IATA member, and has passed the IATA Operational Quality Standards (OQS) audit. It has interline agreements with various international carriers, who can issue Rwandair Express flights on their tickets.

[edit] Destinations

(As of 28 June 2006). The MD-82 flies to Nairobi daily, Johannesburg via Bujumbura twice a week, with a third frequency in the planning. The Dash 8 flies to Entebbe daily, Bujumbura and Kamembe/Cyangugu several times a week and has now resumed flights to Kilimanjaro twice weekly. Flights to Gisenyi are due to begin soon.

[edit] Fleet

The Rwandair Express fleet includes the following aircraft (as of August 2006):[3]

Other aircraft:[citation needed]

[edit] Trivia

  • A Rwandair plane can be seen in the movie Sometimes In April, about 15 minutes to the end.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Flight International 12-18 April 2005
  2. ^ Airline Codes November 2006
  3. ^ Flight International, 3-9 October 2006
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