#RWANDA’S NATIONAL AIRLINE GETS TRAFFIC RIGHTS OUT OF #ZIMBABWE
(Posted 12th December 2017)
Information is emerging that RwandAir has been granted fifth freedom rights for flights between Harare and South Africa by the aviation authorities in Zimbabwe,
giving the airline a boost for future route developments.
Among the route rights secured out of Harare is reportedly Cape Town.
It is understood that South Africa’s civil aviation authorities are yet to approve on their part such an arrangement and they have in the past been notoriously slow granting foreign airlines fifth freedom rights into the country when South African Airways and other of their own airlines operate on such routes.
RwandAir has been expanding their African network with the objective to turn Kigali into a transfer hub from where the airline feeds traffic into their long haul departures to such destinations as Mumbai, Dubai but also to London and Brussels.
Notably has RwandAir three months ago been able to conclude a deal with Benin to establish a second hub at Cotonou’s international airport and is now operating from there to a number of destinations across West Africa with full traffic rights for passenger and cargo uplift.
RwandAir also operates double daily flights between Entebbe / Uganda and Nairobi / Kenya under fifth freedom rights granted by the Ugandan CAA and, eventually, approved by the Kenyan authorities, while also serving Juba out of Entebbe under similar fifth freedom licences.
RwandAir operates a fleet of 12 aircraft, among them two Airbus A330’s, two Bombardier CRJ900’s, two Bombardier Q400NextGen’s and six Boeing B737NG’s.
