Rwandair is one of the more colorful and unexpected carriers in Africa. Rwanda is a small country that is more known for its violent past than its airline. The airline has recently started flights to Amsterdam, and plans to continue flights to London. Rwandair flies A330s on their longer haul routes, to Dubai and Europe. The airline has now announced intentions to fly to the US in August 2018.

 

Flights to the US?

I find this development to be very interesting. I don’t think there is enough demand between Rwanda and the US to justify a long haul flight. These flights tend to be very difficult to turn a profit on. Rwandair’s A330s would not be able to fly the route non-stop either. I suspect they will try to fly a fifth freedom route, possibly stopping somewhere in West Africa. The next question that comes to mind is which US city will they fly to. I suspect New York, given it has the largest population of Rwandan expats in the US.

Rwandair A330 (Business Traveller)

Rwandair A330 (Business Traveller)

What to expect?

Rwandair has one of the best, if not the best, business class hard product in Africa. They use Vantage XL seats, similar to the ones used by Qantas on their A330s. Rwandair reviews are basically non-existent. The only one I could find was this one. I would love to say that the airline will offer a premium experience, but I don’t know. The airline has three classes of service on the A330s. They have 30 business class seats, 21 Premium Economy seats, and 223 economy seats.

Rwandair Business Class (Business Traveller)

Rwandair Business Class (Business Traveller)

Landing Thoughts:

I am happy that Rwandair is trying to launch this flight. I don’t think it will last very long. The airline will probably lose tons of money on the route. This is probably a prestige route, that will never break even. Rwandair isn’t part of any major alliance, and does not have any major code share partners. We will have to see if it even comes to fruition.

 

What do you think? Will Rwandair be able to launch this route? Would you fly them to Africa or stick to another carrier? Let us know!

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All images from Planespotters or businesstraveller.com.