RwandAir to open first direct flight to Tel Aviv in June 2019
Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Rwanda's national carrier, RwandAir, announced on Wednesday that it will open its first direct flight between Rwanda and Israel in June this year.
The statement issued by the airline said RwandAir will seamlessly connect tourists and business travelers between Tel Aviv and its network three times a week via its Kigali hub.
It said the new route will include three weekly flights to operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays by a Boeing 737-800NG offering 16 seats in business class and 138 seats in economy class.
Commenting on the new move, RwandAir’s CEO, Yvonne Manzi Makolo said: "Adding Tel Aviv to our network is part of our long term plan to link Rwanda to the rest of the world."
"Tel Aviv is one of the world’s leading tech hubs and we look forward to flying business travelers as well as pilgrims visiting the Holy Land, to and from our network on this new route," she said.
From Kigali as its hub, RwandAir currently flies to 27 destinations across East, Central, West and Southern Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
Previously, RwandAir started flights from Kigali to Mumbai, Harare, London (Gatwick) and Brussels as well as Dakar from its second hub in Cotonou. RwandAir also introduced flights to Abidjan, Libreville and Brazzaville from its Cotonou hub, it said
In addition, RwandAir plans to launch four new destinations -- Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Guangzhou (China), Conakry (Guinea) and New York City (USA) – bringing the number of destinations to 31, the organisation indicated.
The airline which has 12 aircraft plans to increase its fleet to about 20 in the next two years.
In August this year, RwandAir announced plans to increase the number of travel passengers from 926,571 to 1,151,300, during fiscal year 2018/2019, representing an increase of 24%, according to the arline projections.
-0- PANA TWA/VAO 29May2019
