Flying Further Than Ever Before
W
elcome to the September edition
of Inzozi magazine. As we get back into work after the summer school holidays, I would like to extend my best wishes to you, our esteemed travellers. It is always a pleasure to welcome you on board and I encourage you to sit back, relax and enjoy our world-class service and the many stories in this edition of Inzozi. Over the last few months, the excitement has been building as we awaited four brand new aircraft – the first of which, an Airbus A330, lands in Rwanda in September. The second Airbus A330 arrives in November, and the first of two Boeings 737-800s will arrive home in December. I am confident these editions to our young fleet will exceed expectations in terms of comfort and increased destinations. As part of this growing network, RwandAir will operate five weekly flights to Mumbai with its brand new A330-300, a state of the art triple class 274 wide-body seater equipped with full flat beds in business class and unmatched leg room in premium economy, with inflight entertainment and Wi-Fi connectivity across all three classes. As we expand to India, we have selected Bird Travel as our General Sales Agent for this market. I am confident this new partnership will yield results in support of our ambitious growth plans. Other new destinations launching in the coming months include Cotonou in Benin (three flights a week), Harare in Zimbabwe (four flights a week) and Guangzhou in China. As we expand our destinations, RwandAir will be flying further than ever before, opening up new opportunities for business and exploration. I am incredibly proud to share that RwandAir has received the second group of Rwandan trainee
pilots who graduated from the Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy. Congratulations to Arsène Barakarama, Edgard Manyire, Benon Bizimana, Emmanuel Mpagazi, Divin Kabagare, Ronald Asiimwe for your impressive achievement. These graduates performed well during their training and two were rewarded for their exemplary performance. Today, RwandAir has 33 Rwandan pilots who serve their airline and the country with pride and commitment. Just as RwandAir strives to connect Africa, we also aim to connect the world to Rwanda. As part of these efforts, the airline is providing its full support to the country’s burgeoning meetings and conference industry. RwandAir regularly offers discount flights to conference participants and event organisers as just one way to support the sector. As Rwanda geared up to host the 27th African Union Summit, the airline offered a discount to all delegates attending the Summit. With over 3,000 delegates and 35 Heads of State, the AU Summit was an opportunity to demonstrate RwandAir’s high standard of care to a truly international audience. RwandAir was proud to bring our African sisters and brothers to Kigali for the summit and position ourselves as the carrier of obvious choice in the markets we serve. I am pleased to announce that RwandAir will open its first ever business lounge at the Kigali International Airport in October. This fullyfunctional lounge will ensure our frequent fliers continue to travel in comfort and style, wherever they are going or coming from. I look forward to welcoming the first customers to the business lounge when it officially opens. The recent renewal of the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification, which is valid from June 2016 until June 2018, is a sign of
RwandAir’s commitment to safety. I wish to thank our team for their hard work in maintaining these international and highly recognised standards. Finally, RwandAir is thrilled to partner with DFASS, a company with extensive experience in providing Duty Free services. We will soon offer you many unique products that will enhance your experience with RwandAir. In some very good news for our frequent fliers, I am pleased to share that you will enjoy a discount on all items in the Duty Free collection based on your DreamMiles membership tier level. We look forward to this new service launching in the near future. As always, we welcome your feedback through our website or via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Don’t forget to tag @FlyRwandAir when posting pictures of your flight with us – especially if you’re flying on one of our brand new aircraft. Thank you for flying the dream of Africa with RwandAir and I wish you a pleasant journey. John Mirenge
CEO, RwandAir
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2016 EDITION | 7