The construction works on the proposed Bugesera International Airport are on course and the developer is optimistic they will meet the 2020 deadline for having concluded the first phase.

Edwin Benzinge Rukyalekere, the operations manager of Bugesera Airport Company (BAC), a special purpose vehicle that is championing the works, said the construction phase, which is ongoing, is expected to be concluded in two years’ time.

He was speaking last week on the sidelines of the just-concluded International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) that was held in Kigali.

"We are very optimistic and hope to meet the target of 2020. I can’t specify the exact date when construction will be done, because there are few challenges that tend to cause delays. For example, right now, earth works are being delayed due to heavy rains and those are some of the things causing delays. We have earth moving equipment such as bulldozers not currently in use due to the wet season,” he said.

In September 2016, the Government concluded negotiations of a public-private partnership transaction with BAC – a joint venture of Mota-Engil Africa (MEA) with 75 per cent shares and Aviation Travel and Logistics Holding (ATL) with 25 per cent – to develop the new airport.

The project is based on a concessional agreement signed between the Government and BAC to build, own, operate for 25 years and transfer the facility to the Government after the operation period.

The main driving factors include making the airport and the country a regional hub, and the main home base of national carrier RwandAir and its strategy for future expansion.

The concession holders say the new airport, once complete, will have a passenger terminal with 30,000 square miles; 22 check-in counters, 10 gates, six passenger boarding bridges, among others.

The airport is expected to facilitate several long-haul flights from Europe, USA and Asia.

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