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| Founded | 1 December 2002 | |||
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| Commenced operations | 27 April 2003 | |||
| Operating bases | Kigali International Airport | |||
| Fleet size | 7 (+1 order) | |||
| Destinations | 16 | |||
| Company slogan | Fly our dream to the heart of Africa | |||
| Headquarters | Kigali International Airport Kigali, Rwanda |
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| Key people | John Mirenge (CEO)[1] | |||
| Website | Homepage | |||
RwandAir is an airline with its head office on the grounds of Kigali International Airport in Kigali, Rwanda. It is the national carrier operating services to East Africa, Central Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa and the Middle East.
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RwandAir was established on 1 December 2002 as a joint venture between the Government of Rwanda (77%) and Silverback Cargo Freighters (23%), under the name RwandAir Express. It started operations on 27 April 2003.[2] It initially leased a Boeing 737-500 from the Danish airline Maersk Air. It was later returned to Maersk Air in May 2004. This was replaced by a leased McDonnell Douglas MD-82 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 problems resulting in Acvila Air and JetAfrica being banned from Dutch airspace. RwandAir Express replaced the aircraft with McDonnell Douglas MD-82 leased from Acvila Air.
In the early 2000s the airline used the Telcom House as its head office.[3]
In 2006, RwandAir leased Bombardier Dash 8 Q200 from the Ethiopian airline, Trans Nation Airways (TNA).
In April 2007, RwandAir Express leased a Boeing 737-500 from Air Malawi. This aircraft was grounded at Kigali International Airport, apparently as part of a contract dispute.[4]
In November 2008, RwandAir agreed on terms to wet lease a Boeing 737-500 from Air Namibia, which enabled the airline to resume service to Johannesburg, which had ceased in April 2008.
RwandAir is compliant with International regulations. 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 flights on their tickets. RwandAir is no longer in a code share agreement with Kenya Airways on the Nairobi/Kigali route. RwandAir has expressed the intention to resume code sharing arrangements and expand service to Nairobi.
In December 2008, press reports indicated that RwandAir was planning to expand its regional route network to include Dar-es-Salaam, Addis Ababa, Mwanza, Lusaka and Kinshasa. A new domestic service to Gisenyi was also planned. New aircraft to service these new routes were reportedly being sourced.
In June 2009, the airline officially re-branded from Rwandair Express to RwandAir, because the new name implies a large, serious airline, while the 'Express' in the former name implies a small regional operation.[5] In May 2010, Rene Janata became CEO introducing new tools, frequent flyer program developing the airline to become a network carrier. In October 2010, John Mirenge became the new CEO of RwandAir [6]
In July 2010 the first of RwandAir's new Boeing 737-500's arrived, the second arrived on 20 October 2010. Both are leased from General Electric Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) and they have a two class configuration with 12 business class seats.
In August 2011 the airline took delivery of their first aircraft purchased directly from an airline manufacturer. All prior aircrafts operated by RwandAir have been either leased or bought as a second hand. The aircraft purchased in a Boeing 737-800 with Sky Interior a.k.a Boeing 737 Next Generation, and is the only one operating among African air carriers. The flight departed from Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, United States at 5:30 PM PST. It made its first stop in Keflavík International Airport in Iceland, then it headed for a second stop to Istanbul, Turkey. It finally arrived on Kigali, Rwanda, after a 20 hours flight. [7]
In October 2011 RwandAir placed an option for two Boeing 787s for delivery in 2015 or 2016. In the same month they also took delivery of their second Boeing Next-Generation 737-800.
RwandAir serves the following destinations (excluding codeshare destinations) (as of December 2011):[8]
RwandAir has the following codeshare agreements (at June 2010):
In April 2009, it was announced that RwandAir will code share with Brussels Airlines. All the flights operated by Brussels Airlines between Brussels and Kigali will carry both a SN and a WB flight number. The commercial deal between Brussels Airlines and RwandAir enables the Rwandan airline to sell 10 seats in economy class as a marketing carrier.[12] In September 2009, RwandAir signed a code share agreement with Ethiopian Airlines.[13] In May 2010 the airline announced a new codeshare with Air Uganda.[14]
The airline has its head office on the top floor of the main building of Kigali International Airport in Kigali, Rwanda.[15][16] The airline previously had its head office in Centenary House in Kigali.[2] The airline began moving its operations from Centenary House to the airport on Friday 14 May 2010. The airline was scheduled to be moved in by Monday 17 May 2010.[16] At one previous point the airline had its head office in the Telcom House.[17]
RwandAir operates the following aircraft (as of November 2011):[18][19][20]