PICS: RwandAir's brand new Bombardier Q400 NextGen Arriving in Kigali

Rwanda enjoyed another proud moment yesterday when national airline RwandAir flew in their latest acquisition, a Bombardier Q400 NextGen. The new plane will soon begin commercial service, making regular appearances in Kamembe, RwandAir’s only domestic destination as well as regional destinations such as Entebbe and Bujumbura. RwandAir now operates 7 new aircraft, 2 B737-800NG, 2 B737-700NG, two Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen and now the Q400 NextGen, which makes it the operator of one of the youngest fleets in Africa. According to the CEO John Mirenge, after the launch of Douala which begins on the 30th of March, they will also add Abidjan in 2014 then look at new destinations such as Luanda, Harare and Lusaka for 2015.  

RwandAir takes delivery of Bombardier Q400

 

African carrier RwandAir has taken delivery of a dual-class Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprop from an order announced in April 2013. RwandAir deputy CEO Jean Paul Nyirubutama said the 67-seat Q400 NextGen aircraft “will position us well to offer increased capacity on popular routes that have been opened and serviced with our 37-seat Bombardier Dash 8-200, and is the right aircraft to develop our growing domestic and regional markets.”

 

The Kigali-based carrier’s fleet also includes four Boeing 737 series aircraft, one Bombardier Dash 8-200 turboprop and two new CRJ900 NextGen regional jets. RwandAir serves domestic destinations and many regional cities such as Nairobi, Entebbe, Mombasa, Bujumbura, Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro. The airline also serves Johannesburg, Dubai, Lagos, Libreville and Brazzaville. Service to Accra, Douala and Juba will start soon.

 

Source: ATW

RwandAir signs maintenance agreements for new aircraft

 

When on the 03rd of March RwandAir’s latest acquisition, a Bombardier Q400 dual class turboprop aircraft will join the fleet in Kigali, a new technical support agreement will just have come into effect, which the airline signed a few weeks ago with Ethiopian Airlines for the line maintenance of this aircraft type.

 

The technical support agreement was signed by RwandAir’s Chief Executive Officer Mr. John Mirenge and Ethiopian Airlines CEO Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam. Under the agreement Ethiopian will provide technical support service to RwandAir as of 01st of March for line maintenance up to A-Check level and component exchange support for the new Bombardier Q400 aircraft, an aircraft type also flown by Ethiopian Airlines.

 

Ethiopian’s MRO Services will base a technical team in Kigali to carry out the day to day maintenance on site while getting additional support from their main base in Addis Ababa should the need arise. John Mirenge said: ‘Rwandair recognizes the important role Ethiopian Airlines has played as a pioneer MRO provider in Africa over the years thus it was imperative that we explore the opportunity for MRO partnership. Agreements such as the momentous one signed here today further strengthen the bond between RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines while continuing to show the world that the African aviation industry remains a vital catalyst for African economic growth and advancement’.

 

Ethiopian’s MRO has a facility certified by both the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency and has MRO capabilities in Boeing and Bombardier aircraft. RwandAir has taken advantage of having the same MRO servicing their two Boeing 737-800NG’s, their two Boeing 737-700NG’s as well as their brand new Q-400 NextGen due to arrive on 03rd of March.

 

This new agreement builds on the already strong relationship RwandAir enjoys with Ethiopian Airlines through the ongoing pilot training program RwandAir pilots go though as well engineer training which has seen RwandAir engineering staff graduate from the Ethiopian Airlines training programme. RwandAir is, according to John Mirenge, also on course to add more destinations over and above Douala within 2014 and will continue to add more aircraft to reach their goal of a fleet of 17 by 2020.

 

Source: eturbonews

RwandAir plans Harare route

RwandAir, Rwanda’s state-owned national airline RwandAir plans to fly to Harare, Zimbabwe and Cape Town, South Africa later this year as part of its expansion programme. The company’s chief executive officer John Mirenge said recently, the carrier based in the capital, Kigali, boosted passenger numbers by 80% to 360 000 last year and expects a further 39 % increase this year. He said that coupled with an expanding fleet and more destinations should help the company report a profit by 2015.
 RwandAir, which started flying in 2002, operates a fleet of two Boeing Co 737-800s, two Boeing 737-500s, two Bombardier Inc CRJ-900 NextGens and a Bombardier Dash-8 100 that serve 12 destinations.