Rwandair to acquire two aircrafts

In a bid to improve service delivery Rwandair Express is set to buy two CRJ aircrafts by end this year. According to the company’s top official the addition to the company’s fleet would cost the airline Rwf7.9 billion ($14 million). Rwandair Express Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Gerald Zirimwabagabo told Business Times on Wednesday that the purchase of the two aircrafts is part of the five year business plan and will help in reducing the costs of wet-leasing. The company currently pays Rwf9.7 million per hour. “With these two aircrafts it will reduce on the cost of leasing and it will improve on the opportunities of making more money as we strive to be one of the best national carriers in the region,” Zirimwabagabo explained. Zirimwabagabo also said that on 1st August, the airline is set to wet-lease another CRJ200 regional jet to add to the two they have been leasing in order to improve regional service delivery. The national carrier is set to join the International Air Transport Association (IATA) by the end of December this year. “Joining this association will make us have benefits of code sharing and inter-line partnering with other carriers which we have already started enjoying,” he added. About 20 percent of the total revenue of Rwandair comes from inter-line partnership with carriers like SN Brussels, Kenya Airways and Virgin Atlantic among others. ”We are not yet full members of the association but when we fully join, we will enjoy full rights as members of the association,” he explained. The CEO also revealed that the company was supposed to have joined the association in June 2009 but hadn’t yet met some of the decisive requirements. The national carrier made Rwf5.6 billion in last year’s financial year from sale of about 84,000 tickets. Zirimwabagabo also revealed that the company has already achieved 33 percent increase in passenger numbers in a period of five months from January this year. Ends

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Rwandair to acquire two aircrafts