After being forced to suspend three of its West African routes due to political tensions with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), RwandAir has announced plans to turn its focus on to expanding operations in East Africa.
According to Rwandan news publication, The New Times, RwandAir’s Chief Executive, Yvonne Makolo, detailed plans on the sidelines of the 13th Aviation Stakeholders Convention and the 2nd African Aviation Safety and Operations Summit. She explained that the airline’s expansion into East Africa was part of efforts to offset the loss incurred following the DRC’s decision to close its airspace to all aircraft from Kigali.
“We had to suspend some of our routes, like Brazzaville, Abuja and Cotonou because the flight time became a bit long, but we are putting that capacity more on the Eastern and Southern routes in terms of additional frequencies and we are looking at opening new routes,” said Makolo.
She said the airline aimed to tap into underserved destinations, with upcoming direct flights to Mombasa and Zanzibar. Makolo also said the airline planned to double its fleet of 14 aircraft within five years to sustain revenue growth.
