National carrier RwandAir is expected to commence flights to Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong and the third largest city in China, effective June 18, 2019.

RwandAir will fly to Guangzhou three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Guangzhou will be tagged to the existing Mumbai route and will be operated by Airbus A330, the national carrier said.

The long-haul flight will bear features such as triple class cabin and equipped with state-of-the-art technology, Wi-Fi onboard, inflight entertainment and extra legroom in an attempt to make the long flight bearable.

Yvonne Manzi Makolo, the Chief Executive Officer of RwandAir, said that the route was informed by the growing traffic between Africa and China in the recent past.

"With the increasing volume of trade between African countries and China, the need to meet the high demand of businessmen and traders travelling between Africa and Guangzhou is strongly felt. This new route will open new business opportunities and increase our passenger and cargo traffic,” she said.

Guangzhou, popularly known as the "Canton City,” is an expansive port city northwest of Hong Kong on the Pearl River.

The city, which is one of the major shopping destinations for merchants, also features popular tourist attractions such as the iconic Canton Tower and Guangzhou Chimelong Tourist Resort, which offers an amusement park, international circus, water p

ark, safari park, a bird park and a hotel.

Guangzhou will be RwandAir’s second destination in Asia following Mumbai, which has been operational since April, 2017.

This new route will extend RwandAir’s network to 28 destinations. Last month, the airline began flights to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital Kinshasa.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com