RwandAir’s new Boeing planes delay

Delivery of RwandAir’s two new A330-900 neos—which were expected to serve the airline’s recently expanded routes—has been delayed by technical glitches.

The carrier’s chief executive Yvonne Makolo said the airline would only accept the aircraft when the issues are fixed.

“There are no timelines of delivery yet,” Ms Makolo said. The airline and Airbus are in discussions on a new delivery date.

Minister for Infrastructure Claver Gatete said that the slow process in the acquisition of new aircraft had slowed down the airline’s expansion plans.

“The more planes we can get, the more we open new routes. We don’t make aircraft so we are at the mercy of the manufacturer. We are waiting to go to Angola, US, Addis Ababa,” he said.

He added they were also working with Boeing “to see what will be the fate of the deal we had, what alternatives are there so that we can at least have the narrow body which can help us in terms of increasing the frequencies in some of the places that we go.”

RwandAir recently signed a deal with Lufthansa systems to automate some of its services.