Rwanda state airline seeks new routes to drive tourism, CEO says

RwandaAir is prioritizing adding new routes and overhauling its existing fleet over short-term profitability as the state-owned airline focuses on supporting the country’s growing tourism industry, CEO Yvonne Manzi Makolo said. Rwanda earned $438m from tourism last year and is targeting doubling that in five years to accelerate economic growth that has averaged more than 7% since 2000. The industry is the biggest generator of foreign exchange for the East African nation. “The government has put a lot of focus in terms of developing the aviation sector in order to drive tourism,” Makolo said. “This is not the right time for us to consolidate. It’s time for us to grow.” The Kigali-based carrier, which flies to 26 destinations, is reviewing its fleet of 12 aircraft. In 2019, four more -- two Airbus A330neo and two Boeing Co. 737 Max planes -- will begin operating. RwandAir will reduce its aircraft categories to three from four and will use planes from Airbus for long haul flights, Boeing for mid-range routes and Bombardier for regional destinations.<br/>