Kigali, 14 February 2018: RwandAir, the national carrier, is set to expand its wings to Abuja in Nigeria and Cape Town in South Africa.

RwandAir will operate four weekly flights from Kigali to Cape Town with a stopover in Harare, Zimbabwe. The Abuja flight will be tagged to the existing Accra route, where the flight will stop in Abuja before heading to Accra and it will also be operated four times a week.

The Ag. Chief Executive Officer of RwandAir, Col. Chance Ndagano has said destinations to Abuja and Cape Town will help boost the economies of the three countries in terms of tourism and trade on one hand, and enhance bilateral partnership between Rwanda, Nigeria and South Africa. “This is yet another big milestone for RwandAir as we continue to expand our network. Our aim is to provide our customers with seamless and better connections on the continent and beyond,” said Chance Ndagano.  The two additional routes will take the national carrier to 26 destinations.

The airline was recently granted fifth freedom right by Nigerian authorities to fly without any limitations along Abuja-Yaoundé route in West Africa.

This bilateral airspace service agreement means that RwandAir is now able to operate another route into Nigeria to Abuja.

In November 2017, Rwanda signed a bilateral air service agreement with Cape Verde, opening more potential market opportunities for the national carrier and the country’s private sector.

RwandAir is also planning to launch flights to New York in the United States of America and other Asian destinations, including China soon. The national airline also plans to introduce routes to Conakry in Guinea, Bamako in Mali as well as Dakar, Senegal and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Last year, RwandAir launched its commercial flights to Mumbai, Harare, London (Gatwick) and Brussels.

Other planned destinations include Lilongwe in Malawi and Durban in South Africa.

RwandAir was recently recognised as one of the safest and best on time performer by world aviation body, the International Air transport association (IATA).