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Above : two of four Akagera Aviation R-44s. The airline etablished in 2004, by two South Africans pilots.

Rwandan Aviation Categories (Airports Infos, RwandAir Infos, Brussels Airlines Infos,.... : here

Qatar Airways wants to fly  Rwanda :

08/11/2011 (updated on 16/11/2011) :

We know more about the future Qatar Airways flights to Rwanda. It seems that  the routing will be Doha-Entebbe(Uganda)-Kigali (Rwanda). Qatar Airways is negotiating traffic right between Uganda and Rwanda.

The last week, Qatar Airways announced that, they will start flights to Kigali, in the near future. This news comes after, the Qatar Airways inaugural flight to Uganda. The Qatar Airways CEO has said, that Qatar and Rwanda are negotiating a bilateral Air Services Agreements.

Emirates SkyCargo now flies to Rwanda ?

20/10/2011 :

According to OAG.com, Emirates SkyCargo flies between Dubai and Kigali, since 5 october (OAG).  After verification, Kigali appears on Emirates SkyCargo network. Flights are operated by the brand new B777-200F, each wednesdays.

This is a good news for Rwanda, because with those flights, Rwandan traders will easily enable to export products,like flowers, Bananas and Tea  to, Dubai, France, Belgium, UK, India, Pakistan, Japan, South Korea, China and USA which are the mains market for Rwanda, outside of Africa.

Studies suggest that cargo flight charges in Rwanda are twice higher than those in other East African Community countries such as Kenya. With the arrival of Emirates traders hope that cargo flight cost will go down.

To contact Emirates : skycargopar@emirates.com              skycargonce@emirates.com   

Paragon Aviation Services (Nigeria) to invest in Rwanda :

07/10/2011 :

The Nigerian conglomerate Paragon Holdings announced, yesterday, that its aviation subsidiary company will invest in Rwanda. Olusela Segun the Paragon Aviation Services CEO told to the medias, "that PAS intends  to meet Rwanda’s business, luxuries, and government travel needs within the country".

Olusela Segun has also added that, it wil take about one year until that the project is  finallized. PAS, will be the second forgein private airline to have a base in Rwanda, after that Tempus Jet started flights in August 2011.

Air Tanzania sets to resume flights to Rwanda ?

20/09/2011 :

 With the return of its Dash 8 Q300, Air Tanzania has just resumed flights in Tanzania After years of financial difficulties, its seems that the Tanzania Governement want to revamp ATCL. In recent years, the governement was absent on this file,  prefering to developp PrecisionAir.

Air Tanzania plans to add a CRJ-200 (50 seats) and a CRJ-700 (70 seats), to resume regional operations to the neighboring countries. The airline dropped the Rwandan route, in 2004. ATCL planned to resume flights in 2008, but due to lack of fund, the resumption of the flights were postponed.

Sahara Air Cargo starts cargo flights between Tanzania and Rwanda :

01/09/2011 :

According to flightstats, it seems that the unique Tanzanian cargo airline will finally start flights to Kigali, from Saturday 4 september 2011, with a B737-300F. Flights will be operated from Dar Es Salaam to Kigali. In 2010, the airline announced the project to serve Rwanda. Sahara Air Cargo will also start flights to Burundi and Comoros with B737-300F and B727F.

Watch this space for more informations

An Akagera Aviation R44 crashes in the Nyamagabe district :

An Akagera Aviation R44 (9XR-SF) at Kigali, march 2011

Updated on 30/08/2011

The helicopter was carying two passengers one Nigerian and  one British. There are now  at the King Faycal Hosiptal in Kigali, suffering minor injuries. A Rwanda Air Force helicopter has flown to Nyamagabe and came back to Kigali, with the three injured (the pilot and the two passengers).

25/08/2011 :

Informations was received from Rwanda, say that a R44 crashed yesterday afternoon (Wednesday) on the Congo Nil crest at Gatare, Nyamagabe district, in  the Southern Province. No fatalities among the 3 passengers, who were evacuated to the Nyamagabe hopsital. More infos will come later.

Air Burundi sets to back to Rwanda ?

22/08/2011 :

The Burudian national flag carrier could restart flights to Rwanda, in near future, after 2 years of suspension. Indeed, Air Burundi plans to add two MA60s in its fleet. This information was confirmed during a Sino-Burudian meeting at Bujumbura, last week. Air Burundi suspended flights in 2009, after its Beech 1900 flown to South Africa, for maintenance. But the airline has never restarted flights, maybe due to the lack of money.

Early this month, the governement announced that Air Burundi will be privatised in the coming month. Until 2009, Air Burundi served Kigali with a one daily flight with continuation to Entebbe (Uganda).

Watch this space.

Tempus Jet lands in Rwanda :

 15/07/2011 :

Orion Air Group (OAG), through their sister corporation Tempus Jets, announced an agreement with the Government of Rwanda to establish a stronger and more robust private aviation presence in the region.

Tempus Jets will be locating two fixed-wing aircraft and one VIP transport helicopter to Kigali International Airport in August 2011. The establishment of a fleet of aircraft dedicated to this vision with the support of the Government of Rwanda will expand in scope and operations as quickly as the market develops.

more infos : here

Silverback Cargo Freighters ceased its flights :

15/02/2011

According to an article of Air International (February 2011) about RwandAir, the cargo airline Silverback ceased its flights. The airline created in 2002 and was based at Kigali, and operated a fleet of two old DC-8Fs.

At the begining, the airline provided flights for Ethiopian Cargo to Africa, Asia and Europe. But in 2008, the airline banned from EU and thus forced to stop flights to Europe. Until 2011, the airline served Middle East and provided flights to Kabul for NGOs.

Below : some pix of Silverback Cargo Freighters at Kigali, click on the pix to see bigger :

Akagera Aviation acquires two AgustaWestland :

01/08/2010

The governement of Rwanda has recently taken delevery of two AgustaWestland Helicopters. The first one is an AW139, which will be used for governement transport missions.

The other one is a Grand and will be used for medical missions. Both will be used by Akagera Aviation. Rwanda will be the first country in Central Africa to have an EMS Helicpoter.

Akagera Aviation is a company based at Kigali and provides charters flights, Air Police Servicest, training and maintenance (the first company in whole Central and East African region) with its fleet of R-44s and Agusta.

Some pix taken in March 2011, at Kigali (Rwanda), click on the pix to see bigger :

Agusta 139 (AW139) 9XR-SO :