RwandAirplans to add a fourth Airbus A330 to its wide-body roster this summer in a bid to bolster its European routes.
Enhancing European Routes
Announced by RwandAir CEO, Yvonne Manzi Makolo, at the African Airlines Association Stakeholders Convention, the new A330 is being brought in to reinforce the London Heathrow route in particular.
Makolo told African Aerospace:
“The fourth A330 is to reinforce London. Given the slot rules in London, it’s very tricky with three aircraft when one goes down”
The new aircraft is set to arrive in Kigali by late June or early July 2025 and will support the London Heathrow route primarily but also flights to Lagos, Nigeria.
Currently, the airline has one of their A330-200 leased Hi Fly Malta, which initially consolidated their European and American routes but they also want to further develop their Paris Paris CDG-Brussels National route. Running this route three times a week, RwandAir would like to make this route a daily occurrence.
Fleet Expansion and Modernisation
Currently, RwandAir is home to two A330-200s with one being owned and one being leased, and one owned A330-300 in its wide-body fleet. Adding in a new A330 is a clear sign of intent.
Within their narrow-body fleet, the airline also plans to add two B737-800s in July and August of 2025 in order to replace the sold CRJ900s, whilst the one leased B737-700 will return to the lessor. Elsewhere, RwandAir are also exploring possibilities to replace their ageing Dash8s to further modernise their fleet.
These additions are all steps in RwandAir’s ambitious plans to double their fleet size within 5 years, with growing access to the leasing market they are certainly on the right track.
A little more about RwandAir
Founded in 2002, RwandAir, is the national flag carrier of Rwanda operating to over 20 destinations across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia and they pride themselves on achieving their mission of providing safe and reliable air travel.
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