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[Translate to en:] John Mirenge CEO Rwand Air (c) Rwand Air

New arrival at Rwand Air

The joy and enthusiasm of the management of the small airline RwandAir from the East African microstate at the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse is infectious. With the delivery of an Airbus A330-200, RwandAir is heralding its next expansion step. The airline is also the first operator of an A330 in East Africa.

A second, larger A330-300 and an additional new Boeing 737-800 already flew from Seattle in November. Rwandair carries around 700,000 passengers a year. "With the two A330s, it will be more than a million," John Mirenge explained to Connoisseur Circle on the flight to Rwanda's capital Kigali. And there are further plans. Named Africa's fastest growing airline for the past five years, a decision will be made in the next 24 months on the purchase of two Airbus A350-900s. "We need to stretch our wings to New York". Is this expansion megalomaniacal? More like self-confident. "We know very well that a small country like Rwanda cannot fill such large aircraft. 80%-90% of our passengers will use Kigali as a transfer point. We don't want to overdo it, we want to develop step by step". It is therefore logical to study airlines such as Singapore Airlines and Emirates Airline, small nations with a focus on the development of aviation, as role models.

A new 600 million US dollar airport in the south-east of the country with a capacity of three million passengers is also due to open in 2018. Nevertheless, the critical reporter from Europe asks, is this not an enormous risk as a small, unknown airline
to operate long-haul routes? "It was never easy to establish ourselves in Africa in view of the competition. But in the last five years we have managed to gain market share. RwandAir is growing by 20 percent a year. Entering the long-haul market is a big step for a small airline. Our plans are to fly mainly to London and Paris, and later also to Mumbai and China. And Mirenge points out that new aircraft, safety, good in-flight service and punctuality are particularly appreciated in this part of the world - because this is not standard with some other airlines. RwandAir has five Boeing 737-700/800s (as of November), two Bombardier Q400s and two CRJ900s in its fleet. And the new A330 also has a symbolic effect. Not only for the airline. Also for the pride of Rwanda and its positive economic development in recent years. And what will RwandAir look like in
five years from now? "I think a size of 16 aircraft is realistic," Mirenge is unusually modest.

Text: Kurt Hofmann

Pleasant surprise

Kurt Hofmann

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