{"id":101188,"date":"2025-05-14T14:08:34","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T14:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/rwandair-boss-highlights-expansion-plans-profitability-outlook-for-2025"},"modified":"2025-05-14T14:55:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T14:55:00","slug":"rwandair-boss-highlights-expansion-plans-profitability-outlook-for-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rwandair-boss-highlights-expansion-plans-profitability-outlook-for-2025","title":{"rendered":"RwandAir boss highlights expansion plans, profitability outlook for 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>RwandAir, the national carrier, is shifting its strategic focus toward routes in Eastern and Southern Africa as part of its broader plan to boost flight frequencies across the continent.<\/p>\n

The development was disclosed by the airline’s Chief Executive, Yvonne Makolo, on the margins of the 13th Aviation Stakeholders Convention and the 2nd African Aviation Safety and Operations Summit underway in Kigali.<\/p>\n

Drawing over 400 industry leaders and policymakers, the summit aims to explore growth opportunities for the continent\u2019s aviation sector, address industry challenges, as well as foster strategic partnerships across the value chain, among others.<\/p>\n

According to Yvonne Makolo, RwandAir continues to expand its footprint through expanding its network and connecting to under-tapped destinations.<\/p>\n

She said the focus for a wider and intercontinental reach for the airline\u2019s passengers will include the launch of a direct flight to Mombasa, a key town in Kenya, and Zanzibar.<\/p>\n

The move, Makolo explained, is part of the efforts to offset the loss incurred following DR Congo\u2019s decision to close its airspace to all aircraft from Kigali.<\/p>\n

According to Yvonne Makolo, RwandAir continues to expand its footprint through expanding its network and connecting to under-tapped destinations. Courtesy<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very unfortunate that politics enters aviation. But we are working through that,\u201d Makolo said, reacting to the impact of the DR Congo airspace ban.<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cUnfortunately, we had to suspend some routes like Brazzaville, Abuja, and Cotonou, because the flight time became a bit long.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, she pointed out, \u201cwe are putting that capacity on more of the Eastern and Southern routes in terms of introducing additional frequencies, and we are looking at opening new routes. Immediate routes coming in are Mombasa and Zanzibar.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil the issue is resolved, we want to focus more on the Eastern and Southern routes of the continent,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The national carrier currently serves 107 destinations, including direct routes and additional routes through codeshare partnerships.<\/p>\n

The airline also received nearly 2,000 applications for its pilot cadet programme.<\/p>\n

Leveraging tech<\/p>\n

African airlines should not be constrained by models that don\u2019t suit the continent\u2019s markets, and according to Makolo, Africa is a continent of inventors and creative problem solvers.<\/p>\n

She recognized the growing role of innovation in shaping RwandAir\u2019s passenger experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, this is an ongoing thing, and technology keeps evolving, and new products and services keep coming out. What we are looking at is the entire passenger journey in terms of how to keep it easier from the time the passenger is booking a ticket, to checking in, to onboarding, and arriving at the destination,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have automated the first part, but there is a lot more we are looking at, which comes with investments as well,\u201d she added, highlighting that the airline is looking to enhance its call center experience, among other initiatives.<\/p>\n

Plans to lower costs<\/p>\n

Reacting to the cost of operations and high ticket prices, Makolo acknowledged that the cost of doing business within the African continent is much higher compared to other regions.<\/p>\n

She observed that this is due to several factors, including the higher cost of fuel on the continent, the different taxes, airport charges, maintenance, and overflight fees, among others.<\/p>\n

But, she pointed out, \u201cwe are talking to airports and governments for some of the things that are out of our control, but on our side, we are working to be more cost-efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

She outlined several measures, such as adopting more efficient flight practices to cut fuel costs and streamlining the fleet to reduce the number of aircraft types, thereby minimising the need for a large number of pilots and engineers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are putting in different measures to cut down our cost so that at least we can make our ticket prices more affordable for passengers. A lot more needs to be done, and it needs to be done faster,\u201d she observed.<\/p>\n

The airline targets to double its current fleet within five years, from the current 14 aircraft, in line with sustaining revenue growth.<\/p>\n

According to the Rwanda Fiscal Risk Statement (FRS) for the financial year 2024\/25, RwandAir was progressively reducing its fiscal risks by augmenting its revenues.<\/p>\n

The airline recorded a substantial 82 per cent increase in total revenues, rising to Rwf620.6 billion in 2023 from Rwf341 billion in 2022.<\/p>\n

This growth follows a period of decline, with revenues falling from Rwf334 billion in 2019 to Rwf300 billion in 2020, and further down to Rwf271 billion in 2021, according to official figures.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. RwandAir, the national carrier, is shifting its strategic focus toward routes in Eastern and Southern Africa as part of its broader plan to boost flight frequencies across the continent. The development was disclosed by the airline’s Chief Executive, Yvonne Makolo, on the margins of the 13th Aviation Stakeholders Convention and the 2nd […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":101187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,15,29],"tags":[758],"class_list":["post-101188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-head-lines","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nRwandAir boss highlights expansion plans, profitability outlook for 2025 - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"RwandAir, the national carrier, is shifting its strategic focus toward routes in Eastern and Southern Africa as part of ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rwandair-boss-highlights-expansion-plans-profitability-outlook-for-2025\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RwandAir boss highlights expansion plans, profitability outlook for 2025\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"RwandAir, the national carrier, is shifting its strategic focus toward routes in Eastern and Southern Africa as part of ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rwandair-boss-highlights-expansion-plans-profitability-outlook-for-2025\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-14T14:08:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-14T14:55:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/05\/sm_1747221878.224304.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"643\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rwandair-boss-highlights-expansion-plans-profitability-outlook-for-2025#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rwandair-boss-highlights-expansion-plans-profitability-outlook-for-2025\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"RwandAir boss highlights expansion plans, profitability outlook for 2025\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-14T14:08:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-14T14:55:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rwandair-boss-highlights-expansion-plans-profitability-outlook-for-2025\"},\"wordCount\":758,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rwandair-boss-highlights-expansion-plans-profitability-outlook-for-2025#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2025\/05\/sm_1747221878.224304.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Economy\",\"head lines\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rwandair-boss-highlights-expansion-plans-profitability-outlook-for-2025#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rwandair-boss-highlights-expansion-plans-profitability-outlook-for-2025\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/economy\/rwandair-boss-highlights-expansion-plans-profitability-outlook-for-2025\",\"name\":\"RwandAir boss highlights expansion plans, profitability outlook for 2025 - 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