RwandAir resumes flights to Nigeria

RwandAir's airbus at Kigali International Airport in January 2020. The national carrier will resume flights to Lagos on Friday, September 18. Sam Ngendahimana

By

Julius Bizimungu

  National carrier RwandAir says it will resume flights to Lagos on Friday, September 18, after months of suspension of airline travel due to by Covid-19 pandemic.

“Hop on, let’s go to #Nigeria and explore one of the most vibrant destinations in Africa,” the carrier
said on its Twitter account.

 

Nigeria opened its airports for international travel last week after a six-month lockdown.

 

RwandAir will be operating three weekly flights to Nigeria’s busiest airport of Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

 

The airline resumed weekly flights to Nigeria’s capital of Abuja on September 14.

“Nigeria is a key market for us,” Yvonne Manzi Makolo, the airline’s chief executive officer told The New Times. “We’ve just started so we’ll be monitoring the traffic.”
RwandAir, which resumed commercial flights on August 1, sees Nigeria as a potential destination which generates a significant amount of revenues to the business.
The national flag carrier resumed commercial flights on August 1, embarking on a gradual reopening strategy as most airlines across the world are doing.
It started with flights to Dubai, Lusaka, Libreville, Nairobi, Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam, Douala, Cotonou, and Libreville, and later opened Kinshasa and Kamembe destinations.
RwandAir is among few airlines that have pushed ahead flight resumption, despite the pandemic that has gripped the air travel industry.
As airlines are returning to the skies, safety has become a number one priority for safe flying of passengers.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com