The management team of RwandAir was in Abuja, Nigeria, for the 7th Aviation Africa Summit. Among those representing the airline at the summit were the Country Manager, Nigeria, Mr. Dennis Rwiliriza; Chief Commercial Officer, Andrew Best Owie and the Senior Manager, Promotions and Communication,
Hadijah Kamwesiga. In an interview with Bridget Chiedu Onochie, Rwiliriza expressed delight over the business relationship between the airline and Nigerian
government.

How has the airline fared in the past few years considering the challenging business environment?
Just like everything else in the past few years, I would say that one thing that affected the positive growth was COVID-19 pandemic and it made us have to restrategize and refocus to see how to revamp business again. It has been positive growth; right now, we have recovered to our pre-COVID level. It was a matter of future focus, keeping in mind that we have to refocus our strategy to pre-COVID.Post-COVID, we have been able to achieve few things such as launching Paris, which is where we fly three times a week. It is a big achievement for a growing airline like ours, launching a whole aircraft, especially to such an established market as Europe is not a small feat. Having Paris as an option that serves key markets within our network like central Africa and others as holiday destinations and different purposes, I can say we are doing pretty well at this point.

How many inroads have you made in Nigeria?
We have made appreciable inroad. We launched Lagos, Nigeria in 2010. So, we have been flying to Nigeria for over a decade now. From the onset, it has been positive because Nigeria is a major market in Africa for airlines and Nigerians travel a lot for all sorts of purposes. Rwanda is a green destination for Nigeria and Nigerians being naturally business people, the inroad has been good despite a few challenges. We are looking forward to flying to Nigeria, especially Lagos, seven times a week and also, increasing frequency into Abuja as soon as there is more liquidity because currently, we are flying into Lagos five times a week and into Abuja three times a week.

What are your expectations from Nigeria government to boost the business relationship?
We are positive that the government of Nigeria is working towards facilitating the aviation industry. We just rounded off the Aviation Africa Summit of which many critical issues were discussed. We saw the aviation minister there, who made some positive comments about many things to do with the industry. The fact that the event took place here in Abuja, Nigeria, is symbolic and a proof that the government of Nigeria has the industry at the top of its agenda.

In terms of service delivery and customer satisfaction, how has RwandAir been able to sustain patronage in Nigeria?
Some airlines are national carriers just like RwandAir, and other ones are local carriers, at the end of the day, it is your commitment to the service you offer that distinguishes you. And being from Rwanda, we are naturally hospitable. Things do happen every now and then but how you handle it is the key. We have a reliable on-time service, our inflight service is good and the carbine crew are superb and are trained by professionals. We have a nice partnership with Qatar Airways, which we signed a year ago to boost the integrity of our airline. We are happy to be in
Nigeria.

Are there plans to add more destinations soon?
We completed Paris just a few months ago. We had plan prior to COVID to expand into the Southern African regions, Maputo being one of them, and with the partnership with Qatar Airways, there are certain places that we serve that we don’ South America, far into Asia. We are looking forward to consolidating what we have planned. So, you can see more expansions into Southern African regions and more into Europe but I rather not mention anything until the plans are more solid.

What other special packages do you have for your Nigerian customers?
You get free luggage benefits and sometimes, even a free ticket. We have innovation coming up with our partnership with Qatar Airways and we look forward to more partnership with Nigerians. At some point, we will be looking into joining a bigger partnership. We have a new airport that would be completed in2026 and that is really going to expand our reach.

What about flexible ticket plan?
We are currently in the process of finalizing what we call ‘Rwanda Holidays’. It is going to be a dedicated department for that purpose and it is going to be launched this year.

Is there any synergy between the airline and the hospitality operators to boost
tourist’s comfort?
There is a very big synergy going on. Not so long ago, Rwanda Tourism Board came to Nigeria to meet with operators in the industry. Looking at the statistics,Nigeria is among the top five visitors to Rwanda for tourism. We have youroperators which are offering services to tourists.