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WWW.AIRLINERATINGS.COM GIVES RWANDAIR THE THUMBS UP … BUT …

(Posted 22nd January 2015)

While RwandAir welcomed news that Australian aviation site www.airlineratings.com gave the an overall thumbs up rating with 5 out of a possible 7 has the airline also swiftly pointed out that the site has failed to appreciate a number of factors

Presently rated as par with such carriers like Royal Jordanian, SouthWest Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, XL Airlines France, Adria Airways, Air Baltic, Air Botswana, Air Namibia and Kenya Airways, among many others rated with 5 out of 7 could the inclusion of additional current information and standard upgrades have lifted this to 6 out of 7.

RwandAir’s CEO John Mirenge was reportedly irked by the ranking and according to a source close to the airline also blamed unspecified media on the web of trying to smear the airline’s reputation.

RwandAir is presently preparing for another IATA audit, this time for safe ground handling, which will no doubt later this year also result to being awarded the ISAGO Certificate.

Said a regular aviation contributor from Kigali when asked last night to comment: ‘When you check the site you can see that some other airlines with serious incidents over the past few years also came out with a 5 out of 7 rating. No doubt does that raise questions because RwandAir has had safe operations. It would be most welcome if Airlineratings.com could therefore review RwandAir’s rating and lift the airline to 6 out of 7 or even higher’.

For the benefit of readers have the access links to airlines by alphabetical order been shown below to allow for the comparison of several airlines even in the Eastern African region, where for instance one hybrid low cost carrier based in Kenya only ranked 3 out of 7.

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Airline & Safety Ratings

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· E

· F

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· H

· I

· J

· K

· L

· M

· N

· O

· P

· Q

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· S

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· W

· X

· Y

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To find an airline safety and in flight product rating, simply click on the relevant letter above.
More information on our airline and safety ratings can be found here or by simply clicking on the safety rating link next to each airline. The maximum rating an airline can get for safety is seven stars. We also provide information on the history, aircraft types and in-flight offering (meals, drinks, seating and in-flight entertainment) for most airlines.
Our airline and safety ratings are designed to be transparent, to encourage and promote safety throughout the airline industry for all passengers.

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Notably has RwandAir currently a fleet of 7 aircraft on the registry, 5 of them purchased brand new from manufacturers Boeing and Bombardier and 2 of them leased with an age of 5 and 6 years respectively when they joined the RwandAir fleet from TuiFly, an airline ranked 7 out of 7. Another brand new Bombardier Q400 will join the RwandAir fleet in a few weeks’s time, underscoring the need for a review of the rankings.

Watch this space for breaking and regular aviation news from across Eastern Africa.