Rwanda: ‘RwandAir not profitable, but catalytic for economy’ – finance ministerRwanda is pumping money into the tourism sector, which has badly been hit by Covid-19 says Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Uzziel Ndagijimana. He believes the partnership between RwandAir and Qatar Airways will help put the country in a better place to benefit from the post-Covid economic upswing.
https://www.theafricareport.com/71781/r ... -minister/RwandAir CEO talks trade, tourism and breaking the glass ceiling
Yvonne Makolo shares her company's plans to become a travel hub in Africa and why women are the key to RwandAir's success.
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2021/ ... lo-spc.cnnThe signing of the deal with Qatar Airways is imminent. The company is expected to take 49% of the shares and the rest will be for the Rwandan state.
The new Kigali airport is expected to open next year and will be managed by Qatar Airways which will own 60% of the shares
The capacity has been reassessed to a maximum of 7 million pax over the period 2022-2032. The IATA was optmistic for Rwanda over the period 2016-2036, but it was before the covid
https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2016-10-18-02/ "The top ten fastest-growing markets in percentage terms will be in Africa: Sierra Leone, Guinea, Central African Republic, Benin, Mali, Rwanda, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Madagascar. Each of these markets is expected to grow by more than 8% each year on average over the next 20 years, doubling in size each decade.
The current Kigali airport terminal opened in the 1980s had a base capacity of 400,000 pax (traffic exceeded in 2012
https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/bu ... f--1315902), but in 2019 we were at 1,200,000.
The latest expansion phase is expected to reach 1,800,000 pax (
https://www.mininfra.gov.rw/updates/new ... -in-rwanda). The airport is in the city, it is not possible to expand it, furthermore it's located at the top of a hill.
It is clear that it will surely take a little longer to reach these objectives, due to the covid19. Airlines** (excluding RwandAir) that serve Rwanda and have also played a role in increasing of trafic will continue to add more flights when the demand will be back. My little doubt comes from RwandAir, I'm waiting to see what Qatar will do with it. The experiences at Air Italy and Ethiad in Europe have not been great. We are talking about possible fleet transfers. Why not replace RwandAir's A330s with A321LRs more suitable for RwandAir, RwandAir was interested in the A321LR (
https://www.ktpress.rw/2018/09/rwandair ... re-planes/))
Even though Rwanda has had quite a bit of success in other areas, it also cannot afford to continue injecting such large money into RwandAir alone. I am not querying RwandAir, but I would say that the airline should rather focus on Africa. On the long haul keep Mumbai and Dubai, where loads are not very bad for the period. But close Brussels and London and not go to New York and probably also China.
I m sure that other airlines will come to Rwanda during this decade which will allow traffic to increase. Outside Africa, I bet for Air France (the return), Lufthansa and Oman Air
**: Auric Air, Coastal Aviation, Jambojet (Kenya Airways), Ethiopian, KLM, Kenya Airways, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Egytpair.
Otherwise the Commonwealth summit which was to take place last year, should take place this year if the covid situation is ok. During the African Union summit (2016), the parking at Kigali airport were full
© Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority
. According to the CEO, a second 787 is planned to be converted.
