RWANDA’S NEW BUGESERA AIRPORT TO BE REDESIGNED AT A 1.3 BILLION US DOLLAR COST
(Posted 09th December 2019)
(Pictures courtesy of Rwanda Development Board)
The State of Qatar, through Qatar Airways, earlier today signed a deal with the government of Rwanda, to take a 60 percent stake of the new Bugesera International Airport.
It is understood that the cost of the now to be redesigned airport will rise to 1.3 billion US Dollars, giving the new facility a 7 million passenger capacity when phase one is completed. A second phase, envisaged to come on line by 2032, will then raise the overall capacity to 14 million passengers.
This ends months of speculation over the aviation cooperation Rwanda and Qatar were discussing and which probably started up during an aviation summit held in Rwanda, then followed up further during state visits.
The result will be a state of the art airport facility for Rwanda, which will be home for RwandAir which has been expanding their route network across Africa and, once taking delivery of additional Airbus A330 aircraft, is also set to launch flights to the United States – subject to meeting all US regulatory requirements.
Qatar Airways flies daily between Doha and Kigali, via Entebbe, using a Boeing B787.
Both parties however said nothing about a potential investment of Qatar Airways in RwandAir, which is equally a matter of intense speculation in the African and international aviation sector.
Meanwhile has Akagera Aviation signed a deal with a Saudi firm to turn its present aviation school into a fully fledged aviation academy. Nexus Holdings is coming on board with a 60 percent stake.
The new aviation academy, when fully established, will also offer simulator training in Kigali and is expected to begin training Rwandans as pilots and cabin crew for national airline RwandAir but also offer its services to other airlines and students intent to enter the industry.
