Hardly two months after taking delivery of its new aircraft, RwandAir has released a new schedule effective February 2010 announcing direct flights into Johannesburg every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The four weekly flights which beginning February 3, 2010 will maintain the daylight operation with departures from Kigali set at 1430HRS (Local Kigali Time). Kigali bound flights will depart from Johannesburg at 1900HRS (Johannesburg Time). Prior to the temporary suspension last year, RwandAir Kigali-Johannesburg direct flights had gained popularity as being the most affordable and direct way of accessing east and central Africa from Johannesburg especially for travellers from the Americas, Australia and South East Asia.

The national carrier has also announced the launch of flights to the Tanzanian port city of Dar es Salaam via Bujumbura beginning February 2, 2010. The early morning flights will depart from Kigali International Airport at 0700HRS (Local Kigali Time) every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday while the direct to Kigali return flights will depart from Julius Nyerere International Airport Dar es Salaam at 1100HRS (Dar es Salaam Time).

While announcing these additions to the schedule, the Chief Operating Officer Capt. Jack Ekl said that the airline is keen on deploying more capacity and increasing its frequencies to these destinations with the expected acquisition of Boeing 767 and 737-800 in March 2010. “We will soon be communicating our 2010 World Cup offers with the resumption of the Jo’Burg Direct” he added. RwandAir recently announced its plans to operate scheduled flights to Goma and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo - DRC in the first quarter of 2010.