RwandAir joins the fray

The company also hopes to add a European destination over the next four years. While the location is still under discussion, London, Frankfurt and Paris are all possible. Further destinations within Africa are also being drawn up, including Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Sudan.

But despite the grand ambitions, the company faces an uphill struggle both to become profitable and to be able to compete in such a competitive market. Fuel in Rwanda is more expensive than in most parts of the world and taxes, fees and levies are all “terribly high” in Africa, according to Mirenge.

Young and energetic
A lack of trained technical staff in Rwanda means RwandAir has to hire nearly all of its staff from abroad, paying costly relocation fees and expenses, as well as paying high expatriate salaries.

Everyone from pilots to maintenance staff and technicians have to be brought in from outside. Maintenance is outsourced to two different companies: Ethiopian for the Boeings and the Q400 and SAMCO for the CRJ-900s.

Mirenge says that the company is working towards having a staff made up of more Rwandan nationals. Currently Rwandans going through various stages of training include two pilots and 13 officers, 10 cadets, 19 maintenance staff and 12 local technicians are going through the certification process.

“These are not yet good enough to replace the expatriate pilots and technicians that we have at the moment. But it’s a work in progress and it will be another five years before we can say there are another 20 Rwandan pilots. But this is a long-term project and we are in it for the long haul. Our long-term plan is to have a largely Rwandan staff.”

Mirenge is optimistic the company can fulfil its dreams of becoming a serious player in Africa. “There is definitely an opportunity here and RwandAir is well placed to take advantage of this opportunity for a number of reasons. We are still enjoying the advantages of a very young fleet – about the newest you can find anywhere on the continent – aged between two months and six years. We have a very young cabin crew staff, who are still energetic and excited, so you can expect more from our customer service. And we are also reasonably priced”.

” Finally, a major concern for passengers is safety. We are having our first IATA audit very soon. Should that go well, we will be certified, which is very, very important in terms of our safety record, it takes us to the next level.”

RwandAir, like the country where it is based, has grand plans for its future. The success of the airline is an integral part of the Rwandan government’s plans to transform the country into a middle-income economy.

A small landlocked country with few natural resources, Rwanda has embarked on an ambitious plan to transform itself into a regional conference hub, attracting visitors and business people from across the continent. RwandAir will play a key role in this vision.