RWANDAIRS DECISION ON NEW JETS POSTPONED TILL LATER IN THE YEAR
It was learned from a regular source in Kigali, that the anticipated delivery of two brand new regional jets in the 100 seat range will be delayed until later in the year. Two aircraft manufacturers are said to be in the running for the order to replace two CRJ 200 jets, which no longer met the growing demand for seats on the routes they were deployed, and it is understood Bombardier is trying to sell their CRJ 900 series waiting for the highly acclaimed C-Series would probably take too long for RwandAir to wait for although it is a potential future aircraft to be considered while Embraer is trying to sell the E190 in a two class configuration, backed by the very likely launch of an East Africa based maintenance base facility to service these state of the art jets.
The source would not be drawn into a discussion over the reasons for the delay, leaving it open to speculation if further evaluations of offers and aircraft types are ongoing to determine the best options in terms of operations, training and maintenance cost in the long term, or if it is the ability of the most likely manufacturer to deliver an aircraft order in time, and put the financial package together, could be the overriding motive for the delay.
It could also not be ascertained what decision has been made, if any yet, to replace the Bombardier Dash 8-100 with a larger turboprop to meet the growing demand on the route from Kamembe to Kigali as well as on short regional flights, so there is much to look forward to about RwandAir in coming weeks and months. Watch this space to be sure not to miss the news when they break.
