RWANDA BEATS UGANDA AND KENYA TO THE LINE BY ANNOUNCING AIRPORT REOPENING
(Posted 05th July 2020)
Rwanda’s Ministry of Infrastructure has announced that the international airport in Kigali will reopen, effective 01st of August.
This measure will allow all domestic, regional and international flights to resume but passengers and crews will be subject to added regulations to ensure their #COVID19 negative status.
Arriving passengers need to show a negative certificate which they may in any case require at their departure airport in order to board their flight but will upon arrival have to undergo an additional test in Rwanda and remain in quarantine for a day at their own expense in a designated hotel. This departure from the more common 14 day rule in other countries will encourage both business and leisure traffic to resume, as most travelers will in any case spend their first day in Kigali.
Less clear is the directive when it comes to transit passengers, which in literally all cases would involve a relatively short transit time spent at the airport, waiting for a connecting flight.
Here does the letter demand a test from a certified Rwandan laboratory within 72 hours while in transit, but unless such a facility will be available at the airport directly will the logistical challenge be a major one.
This development puts Rwanda ahead of Uganda and Kenya, where airport opening announcements are still awaited by airlines – which need some time to plan for flight resumption – as well as travelers both into and out of these two countries. In these two countries are 14 day quarantine regimes in place which also constitute a major barrier for the relaunch of flights as in particular inbound leisure travelers, who for instance want to book a one week vacation, will not suffer a 14 day quarantine at their own cost and subsequently will opt for destinations where entry is made easier.
