Dubai: African carrier RwandAir plans to fly to India and China via Dubai from the end of 2016, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operations Officer Jean-Paul Nyirubutama said on Sunday.
RwandAir, 99 per cent owned by the Rwandan government, already flies daily to Dubai from the Rwandan capital Kigali.
The airline has the traffic rights to fly onwards from Dubai and is waiting on the delivery of two Airbus A330s, long-haul aircraft, that it will receive at the end of 2016 to start the routes, Nyirubutama told reporters at an aviation conference in Dubai.
He did not say where in China and India the airline will fly to.
Earlier this year, it was reported RwandAir entered into talks with Etihad Airways for the airline to take a stake in the African carrier. Etihad passed on the opportunity, it was reported.
“They’re (Etihad) not ready to expand further into Africa, so talks will be resumed whenever it is appropriate or suitable for the two companies,” Nyirubutama said.
The talks were mandated by the Rwandan and Abu Dhabi government, Nyirubutama added.
The Rwandan government hopes to sell-off at least part of the airline in the next two to four years that plans to focus on Sub Saharan Africa in the near term.
Nyirubutama said the airline is looking at new destinations in Zimbabwe, Angola, Sudan and Mali. RwandAir has carved out a niche of feeding African traffic through its Kigali hub with about 40 percent of its passengers connecting through its hub.
RwandAir will take delivery of two Boeing 737, narrow body aircraft, between 2016 and 2017. Nyirubutama said one of the aircraft will be leased from Air Lease Corporation.
