Rwanda’s national carrier, Rwand Air at the weekend flagged off its Abuja/ Kigali flights, ready to provide service to passengers from Nigeria’s political capital and giving then the opportunity to connect to its global route network.
The airline is also operating its daily Lagos /Kigali flights, so it now flies to two destinations in Nigeria.
The four weekly service according to its Country Manager, Ms Ibiyemi Odusi would now provide opportunity for government officials, members of the diplomatic corps and other players in the public and private sector to connect flight from Abuja directly to other routes on the airline’s network.
Speaking at the inaugural flight in Abuja, Odusi said the new flight service was positioned to allow Nigerians have more travel options from the nation’s political capital to destinations flown by Rwand Air.
Odusi said Nigerian passengers would benefit from the route network flown by Rwand Air from Abuja.
She said with right product pricing , scheduling planning and other unique selling points at the disposal of Rwand Air, it intends to grow traffic on the route to about 80 per cent load factor in the next six months.
Odusi said since Rwand Air started operations to Nigeria, it has continued to consolidate from its hub in Kigali to Dubai, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Entebbe, Dar es Salaam, Accra, London, Brussels and other routes on its network.
She said the Abuja / Kigali four weekly flights would open vista of opportunity for passengers who want to connect to many parts of the world by leveraging on the carrier’s on time performance.
She also thanked the Minister of States for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other top government officials for making the day’s inaugural flight a success.
Also speaking, Rwanda’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Stanislas Kamanzi said the extension of flight service between Abuja and Kigali would boost trade relations between the two countries.
He said the Abuja / Kigali service would now provide seamless travel window for diplomats and government officials, investors and private sector players who want to explore opportunities for trade, commerce and other bilateral activities.
Kamanzi lauded aviation and diplomatic authorities for granting the right permits and approvals that has led to the consolidation of flights between the two countries.
Also speaking at the event, International Terminal Manager, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Abuja Airport, Hajara Musa assured that the authority would assist Rwand Air in every area that would make its operations smooth.
She said FAAN will continue to provide the necessary facilities that would make the airline have seamless services out of Abuja Airport as it continues to do for all airlines.
