Plane crash never caused financial loss-Rwandair boss

Rwandair has said that it did not incur any financial losses following its plane crash that led to the termination of a contract with Jetlink Express a week ago. In an exclusive interview with Rwandairs’ CEO, Gerald Zirimwabagabo, said the national carrier has managed maintain its sales through the code sharing agreements with Kenya Airways, Ethiopian airline and SN Brussels. “In a short period, we shall manage the situation through code sharing though we cannot bank on it for a long period,” he said. Rwandair terminated its contract with Jetlink, a Kenyan based company following the latter’s aircraft crash on November 12 at Kigali International Airport in which one passenger died. Rwandair had leased two CRJ 50 seater planes from Jetlink. The two aircrafts were operating different routes including flights to Entebbe, Nairobi Kilimanjaro, Bujumbura and Johannesburg. Rwandair has also decided to acquire another Dash8 from ALS Airline in Kenya to supplement its private 37 seater Dash8 which is now operating most of the routes apart from Johannesburg. The Johannesburg route is expected to resume late next month. Zirimwabagabo disclosed that Rwandair is not liable to pay any money to Jetlink Express because the fault was not theirs (Rwandair). “The contract provided for such incidences (discontinuity),” he added. The company is in the final stages of purchasing its own two aircrafts from Rufthansa Airline by mid December, 2009. According to Zirimwabagabo, Rufthansa will be hired to do maintenance work on Rwandair planes within Rwanda to trim costs of flying them outside the country. The CEO pledged safety and best services by hiring the most experienced pilots around the world. Ends

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Plane crash never caused financial loss-Rwandair boss