RwandAir Limited is the flag carrier airline of Rwanda.

RwandAir

RwandAir Limited is the flag carrier airline of Rwanda. It operates domestic and international services to East Africa, Central Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa, Europe the Middle East and Asia, from its main base at Kigali International Airport in Kigali.

The airline has its head office on the top floor of the main building of Kigali International Airport in Kigali, Rwanda. The airline previously had its head office in Centenary House in Kigali. The airline began moving its operations from Centenary House to the airport on Friday 14 May 2010. The airline was scheduled to be moved in by Monday 17 May 2010. At one previous point the airline had its head office in the Telcom House.

Ownership and Management

Rwandair is 99% owned by the Government of Rwanda. The government hoped to privatize the airline after 2013, once it become profitable; the process had been abandoned in 2008, after it emerged that nobody at the time was willing to offer the amount expected from the sale.

RwandAir’s Board of Directors is responsible for ensuring that the airline follows a suitable corporate governance framework to ensure the creation and protection of value for the shareholder. Mr. Godfrey Kabera is currently the Chairman of RwandAir. The long-time aviation veteran Mr. Girma Wake was the chairman of the RwandAir from 2012 to 2017.

Yvonne Manzi Makolo is the current CEO. Makolo was promoted from deputy CEO, in charge of Corporate Affairs, in April 2018. She replaced acting CEO Col. Chance Ndagano.

RwandAir began operations on 1 December 2002 as the new national carrier for Rwanda under the name Rwandair Express (with passenger air transportation as the core activity) after several years of experimenting with other airlines like South Africa airlines. In 2016, RwandAir received International Air Transport Association’s Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO).