Thursday September 25, 2014 – RwandAir, the national carrier of Rwanda, has received notice from the Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority that Kamembe International Airport will be temporarily closed for resurfacing works beginning November 1st, 2014.
RwandAir would like to officially inform its esteemed customers and the public at large that effective 31st October 2014, all flights to and from Kamembe will be temporarily suspended due to the renovation of the airport’s runway.
“In order to minimize the inconvenience that this suspension will cause to our esteemed customers RwandAir will be providing free and seamless ground transportation services in conjunction with our flights, in which passengers will be able to book in advance when booking and purchasing their air tickets,” said Mr. John Mirenge, Rwandair CEO.
The schedule of the bus services shall be as follows:
WB601/Daily Kamembe to Kigali Timings: Departure 9:00 Am
WB602/Daily Kigali to Kamembe Timings: Departure 11:30 Am
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that this might cause.
For more information please contact the communication team at:
communications@rwandair.com
Note to Editors:
Operating from Kigali as its hub in the heart of Africa, RwandAir the best short haul airline in Africa and one of the fastest growing on the African continent. RwandAir’s fleet now consists of Two Boeing 737-700NG, Two Bombardier CRJ-900 NextGen, One Brand new Bombardier Q-400 Next Gen and Two Boeing 737-800NG. RwandAir serves one domestic destination, many regional cities such as Nairobi, Entebbe, Mombasa, Bujumbura, Dar es Salaam, and Kilimanjaro.
The airline also serves Johannesburg, Dubai, Lagos, Accra, Juba, Libreville, Brazzaville and Douala in Cameroon. Abidjan in Ivory Coast is also planned to be added to our destinations by 2015.
Kigali, October 6th 2014 – RwandAir, the national carrier of the Republic of Rwanda, has announced that it will resume flights to Mwanza on November 1st 2014. This will be RwandAir’s third destination in the Republic of Tanzania, in addition to Dar-es-salaam and Kilimanjaro.
RwandAir is pleased to be the first airline linking Mwanza with Kigali and will further seamlessly connect it with the rest of its network. “With our new operations to Mwanza, we are delighted to further strengthen our regional co-operation with the Republic of Tanzania and hope to serve its esteemed customers in this underserved market.” commented John Mirenge, RwandAir Chief Executive Officer
RwandAir will be flying three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday as shown in the schedule below:
| FLIGHT | FREQUENCY – DAILY | DEPARTURE | DESTINATION | DEPART | ARRIVE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WB 470 | Mon,Wed,Fri | KGL | MWZ | 13:30 | 15:30 |
| WB 471 | Mon,Wed,Fri | MWZ | KGL | 16:15 | 18:15 |
For more information, please contact the communication team at: communications@rwandair.com
Kigali October 9th 2014 – RwandAir is pleased to introduce to you an exciting and unique sales promotion dubbed “Doubles for Doubles” promotion as a build up to the holiday season in December 2014.
The promotion will revolve around 2 people – family, friends or partners purchasing tickets and travelling together, who will automatically get double miles each. In addition they will qualify to enter the monthly draw and each one will stand a chance to win any of the amazing prizes. In addition, all doubles travelling during this period will qualify to enter the grand prize draw.
RwandAir has partnered with top brands in the country to give amazing prizes to the winners who will fly with RwandAir during this period – 8th October 2014 to 10th December 2014
How to qualify
Our Partners
Prizes courtesy of RwandAir and Partners
Monthly Prizes
| Prize | Partner | Draw Date | |
| 1 | One Month’s Fuel & Car service | Vivo Energy (U) Ltd | 06th November 2014 |
| 2 | Wardrobe Makeover | Woolworths | 10th December 2014 |
| 3 | Living Room Sofa Set | Nina Interiors Ltd | 15th January 2015 |
Grand Prize
For more information, please contact the communication team at: communications@rwandair.com
Rwandair is pleased to announce the launch of a new online system that tracks the movement of delayed luggage. This system has been implemented in order to facilitate and give access to our passengers while being in the comfort of their homes to monitor and know the progress of their baggage.
The way this application works is simple. After showing your luggage tag number at the Lost and Found department here at KIA, they will scan the tag and we give you back a coupon with a new luggage tag number on it. It is that same number that passengers are suppose to use on the official website of the company under Baggage/Trace your luggage; which looks like the below screen shot and know the ETA of their belongings.
The benefits of this new system are as follow:
What gave RwandAir the inspiration to create that platform is simply the motivation of clientele satisfaction as most of passengers’ complaints or fears are linked to their luggage, whether they are lost or delayed. This has motivated us to create this feature which is another leap for RwandAir in this new IT era.
“We are pleased to introduce this new online luggage tracing system which is set to enhance our quality of service by allowing tracing of lost or delayed luggage and timely advice to our esteemed customers” says Mr. Jean-Paul Nyirubutama, RwandAir Deputy CEO.
DreamMiles cocktail Party
On Wednesday December 3rd 2014, RwandAir hosted a well-attended cocktail party to thank Gold and Diamond members of the Dream Miles program for their continued support.
It was held at the Kigali Serena Hotel and was a success thanks to their invaluable partnership that helped RwandAir smoothly organized the event at minimal cost.
In his remarks the RwandAir Chief Executive Officer, Mr. John Mirenge appreciated the patronage of the airline’s loyal clients and announced the soon to be concluded partnership with the Serena Hotel which will see both companies’ merge their loyalty programs to allow their clients to enjoy the products and services as they take advantage of earning and redeeming miles either on the airline or the hotel with either company’s loyalty card.
RwandAir offered eight business class tickets to any destination on its network to guests who won at a quiz, at a draw and to the frequent flyers with the most miles on their accounts
The guests were entertained by the Gakondo group live band in the colorful and joyful event where RwandAir confirmed its passion of connecting with their loyal customers which are the key to the continued growth and sustainability of the airline.
DreamMiles cocktail Party
On Wednesday December 3rd 2014, RwandAir hosted a well-attended cocktail party to thank Gold and Diamond members of the Dream Miles program for their continued support.
It was held at the Kigali Serena Hotel and was a success thanks to their invaluable partnership that helped RwandAir smoothly organized the event at minimal cost.
In his remarks the RwandAir Chief Executive Officer, Mr. John Mirenge appreciated the patronage of the airline’s loyal clients and announced the soon to be concluded partnership with the Serena Hotel which will see both companies’ merge their loyalty programs to allow their clients to enjoy the products and services as they take advantage of earning and redeeming miles either on the airline or the hotel with either company’s loyalty card.
RwandAir offered eight business class tickets to any destination on its network to guests who won at a quiz, at a draw and to the frequent flyers with the most miles on their accounts
The guests were entertained by the Gakondo group live band in the colorful and joyful event where RwandAir confirmed its passion of connecting with their loyal customers which are the key to the continued growth and sustainability of the airline.
IOSA Certificate Delivery Ceremony
In November 2014, RwandAir was successfully registered as an IOSA operator under the IATA – IOSA registry. Five months only after IATA conducted the IOSA initial audit on the entire RwandAir operations system in June 2014 which ended with an exemplary report of minimal findings and observations.
RwandAir, on Wednesday December 10th 2014, was honored to receive the IOSA certificate from the IATA Vice President for Africa, Mr. Raphael Kuuchi.
The RwandAir’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. John Mirenge highly appreciated the support of the Government of Rwanda and the staff of RwandAir for their commitment to see the airline grow and has now set their sights on attaining the equally important certification for safe ground handling operations and work towards ISAGO which will commence early in the Year 2015.
While handing over the IOSA certificate at the ceremony which was hosted at the Bourbon Coffee Shop at Kigali International Airport, Mr. Raphael Kuuchi, commended RwandAir’s commitment to play an important role in the Rwanda’s aviation industry which enables the country’s economic development.
Honorable Dr. Alexis Nzahabwanimana, the Minister of State in charge of transport who was the Guest of Honor at the event said that the Government of the Republic of Rwanda will continue to support RwandAir in its quest to become the best airline on the African continent and commended the various major milestones being achieved by the RwandAir Management as per the Strategic Business plan of the airline.
RwandAir’s new status now permits the airline to pursue alliances and conclude a number of pending code-share and other partnership agreements with other airlines, for which membership in the IOSA ‘club’ of certified airlines is essential
Kigali, January 12th 2015 – RwandAir the national flag carrier of the Republic of Rwanda by this statement would like to inform the public at large that the airline in cooperation with the National Police of Rwanda is investigating a suspected case of theft that involves RwandAir staff and an industry partner who worked together in putting up an illegal network in processing online ticket sales as well as funds collection which is valued at approximately 30,000USD.
RwandAir operates under strict business operations policies and verification procedures which assisted our finance department in identifying the above mentioned illegal transactions that are still under Police investigations. The suspects were immediately apprehended on January 5th 2015 and are under Police custody.
“Our stakeholders should rest assured that the airline follows strict vetting procedures as part of the recruitment process and strict business operations procedures which will even be more tightened to avoid such occurrences in future”; said John Mirenge, the Chief Executive Officer. Upon successful closure of the investigations, as established legal measures will be followed in cooperating with the relevant authorities to handle this case in the most transparent manner.
For any required clarification, please contact RwandAir Corporate Communications Department at communications@rwandair.com
Kigali, January 16th 2015 – RwandAir, the national carrier of the Republic of Rwanda is pleased to announce the commencement of direct daily flights between Entebbe in Uganda and Nairobi in Kenya effective January 29th 2015.
This follows the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Uganda, South Sudan, Kenya and Rwanda which permitted negotiations of fifth freedom rights by the carriers from the respective countries.
“The route will be operated by state of the art Next Generation dual class Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft which guarantees safety and great comfort, especially on such short haul routes. Flights are scheduled to depart at 9am from Entebbe and at 9pm from Nairobi, primarily catering for the demands of the business and the short stay traveler”, said Gobena Mikael, the General Manager, Commercial.
The airline, with the aim of being the obvious choice in the markets it serves, had established mid last year another direct service from Entebbe to Juba, in South Sudan as a response to the urgent demand of air transportation service between both cities.
“The new daily service from Entebbe to Nairobi will offer additional capacity conveniently and affordably suiting all travelers from both markets”, said John Mirenge, the Chief Executive Officer.
RwandAir services will continue to revolve around playing a strategic role in boosting not only the economy of the airline’s home country but also the economy of the region in general by allowing smooth air transportation for passengers and goods.
For more information, contact communications@rwandair.com
RwandAir launches direct flights to Lusaka
Kigali – February 9th 2015. The Management of RwandAir is pleased to announce the commencement of flights to Lusaka, in Zambia effective March 27th 2015, with three weekly flights.
The flights will be operated by our Boeing 737-800 Next Generation dual class aircraft with guaranteed safety and comfort. The flights which are tagged to the existing Johannesburg route are scheduled to be departing from Kigali to Lusaka then continue to Johannesburg on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; and from Johannesburg via Lusaka back to Kigali on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Lusaka will take the airline’s growing network to eighteen destinations all connecting through Kigali, at the heart of Africa. The airline is well reputed for its fast growth, for an incredible on time performance and for operating one of the youngest and state of the art fleet in Africa.
“We are delighted to see African airspaces open for African carriers to take advantage of the opportunities on the continent; the route which will be served with flights combined with our Johannesburg route will offer convenience and affordable flights to the passengers who will also take advantage of connections to sixteen other destinations in Africa and in the Middle East”; said John Mirenge, the Chief Executive Officer.
This year, the airline plans to increase its number of destinations in Southern and Western Africa and will take delivery of a second brand new dual class Bombardier Q400NextGen which is revolutionizing regional flights with an unmatched comfort.
For more information, contact communications@rwandair.com
RwandAir adds another brand new Bombardier Q400 NextGen
Kigali, March 18th 2015 – RwandAir, the national flag carrier of the Republic of Rwanda has signed a lease agreement with lessor Palma Holding Limited to add a second brand new dual class Bombardier Q400 NextGen Turboprop Airliner.
The Bombardier Q400NextGen aircraft is a large, fast, quiet and fuel-efficient turboprop which provides the perfect balance of passenger comfort and operating economics with a reduced environmental footprint.
“Our first dual-class, 67-seat Q400 NextGen aircraft has been performing extremely well and has fully met our expectations. The Q400 NextGen has been proven to be capable to perform in our demanding environment and flexible in supporting our fleet strategy through its increased capacity while efficiently contributing to our commercial strategy”, said John Mirenge, Chief Executive Officer, RwandAir.
“We are delighted to support RwandAir on its path towards further growth and increased profitability. Under our joint venture with Ibdar Bank (Bahrain) we became the first lessor worldwide for the aircraft’s dual-class configuration, we see many exciting business development opportunities for the African region; the aircraft is highly desired by airlines which can be seen with the re-orders making it an attractive asset from a lessor point of view”; said Moulay Omar Alaoui, President Palma Holding Ltd.
RwandAir currently operates two dual-class Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen regional jets, and with the addition of the lease of the aircraft, is adding another Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft to the first one in service since 2014. This addition will then take RwandAir fleet to eight Next Generation aircraft serving its fast growing network.
Note to editors
From Kigali as its hub in the heart of Africa, RwandAir is one of the fastest growing airlines and operates one of the youngest fleet on the African continent. The airline which is also well reputed for an excellent on time performance, reaches out to eighteen cities in Western, Eastern and Southern Africa and the Middle East.
RwandAir also plans to purchase brand new wide body aircraft in 2016 to expand its services to Europe and Asia.
RwandAir recent major milestone is the passing of the IATA Operational Safety Audit which resulted in the acquisition of the IOSA certificate. The airline’s commitment to operate with the highest and international industry safety standards continues with the pursue of another certification, the IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations expected to be completed by June 2016
For more information, please email: communications@rwandair.com
PROFLIGHT ZAMBIA AND RWANDAIR HEAD FOR JOBURG
Code-share between Proflight and RwandAir offers countrywide convenience
LUSAKA, ZAMBIA – Proflight Zambia and RwandAir have signed a codeshare agreement on the Lusaka – Johannesburg route with RwandAir as the operating carrier and Pro flight Zambia as the Marketing carrier.
Starting March 27th , the flights will be operated three-times-a-week on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays leaving Lusaka at 21:50hrs and arriving in Johannesburg at 23:50hrs and returning from Johannesburg at 07:15hrs and arriving in Lusaka at 09:15hrs by RwandAir’s state of the art Boeing 737-800 Next Generation dual class aircraft.
The schedule is convenient for business travelers among others and synchronized to enable Proflight Zambia’s passengers to seamlessly connect to and from its network and the code share flights. Special introductory fares start from US$180 one-way including taxes.
The agreement is Proflight’s first code-share, and is distinct from the existing interline agreements it has in place with other airlines.
Travelers will be able to book and pay for flights through either carriers’ booking channels including websites (www.flyzambia.com or www.rwandair.com) sales and ticketing offices as well as through travel agencies of their preference.
In the second phase the two airlines will conclude an IET (Interline Electronic Ticketing) agreement that will allow RwandAir’s customers to fly on Pro-flight’s network with a single ticket and allow Proflight’s customers to fly on RwandAir’s flight to Kigali and beyond on a single ticket.
There will be discounted fares available using the IET between Lubumbashi and Johannesburg as well as Ndola and Johannesburg.
“Proflight Zambia can now proudly say that it is offering a direct service from Lusaka to Johannesburg, and of course the flight also connects into our domestic network of destinations, providing added convenience and value for Zambian passengers,” said Captain Philip Lemba, Proflight Director of Government and Industry Affairs.2/3 NEWS RELEASE
“We highly value our new code share partnership with Proflight and are thrilled to see African carriers creating partnerships, synergy and affordability for the benefit of the travelling public,” said Mr. Gobena Mikael, GM Commercial of RwandAir.
. Ends-
Note to Editors
About Proflight Zambia
Proflight Zambia was established in 1991 and is Zambia’s leading scheduled airline. From its base in Lusaka its domestic routes include, Livingstone, Mfuwe, Lower Zambezi, Ndola, Solwezi and Kasama, and regional routes to Lilongwe in Malawi, and from Ndola to Lubumbashi. It adds Kafue National Park to its routes in 2015. The airline prides itself in providing a safe, reliable, efficient and friendly service, and offering good value to business and leisure travellers locally and internationally. The airline operates three 29-seater Jetstream 41 aircraft; four 18-seater Jetstream 32; and two 12-seater Cessna Caravan C208 aircraft.
More information is available at www.flyzambia.com.
About RwandAir
Established in 2002, in Kigali as its hub at the heart of Africa, RwandAir is one of the fastest growing airlines and operates one of the youngest fleet on the African continent. The airline which is also well reputed for an excellent on time performance, reaches out to eighteen cities in Western, Eastern and Southern Africa and the Middle East.
This year, the airline expects delivery of a second brand new dual class Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft and is concluding agreements with aircraft manufacturers for wide body aircraft. These will enable the airline to expand its operations to destinations in Europe and Asia by 2016.
RwandAir recent major milestone is the passing of the IATA Operational Safety Audit which resulted in the acquisition of the IOSA certificate. The airline’s commitment to operate with the highest and international industry safety standards continues with the pursue of another certification, the IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations expected to be completed by June 20163/3 NEWS RELEASE.
For more information, please contact:
Gillian Langmead at Langmead & Baker Ltd;
Proflight – Zambia
+260 979 060705;
info@langmead.com
Patrick Manzi
RwandAir – Rwanda
+250788177000
communications@rwandair.com