Rwanda confirms impending sale of Rwandair to Qatar Airways

Yvonne Makolo, the Rwandair Chief Executive says this strategic alliance is driven by a confluence of factors: Qatar Airways' ambition to capitalize on Africa's burgeoning aviation market and RwandAir's strategic positioning to become a major player within it.

Africa's Untapped Potential

Africa presents a unique opportunity for airlines. Despite its massive population (approximately 18% of the global total), the continent accounts for a mere 2% of global air traffic, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

This disparity highlights the immense potential for growth within the African aviation sector. Boeing, the American plane manufacturer, projects that intra-African passenger traffic will skyrocket in the coming decades, more than quadrupling in size. This anticipated boom has not gone unnoticed by major airlines like Qatar Airways, which see Africa as a new frontier ripe for investment.

Delayed

For the past five years, Qatar and Rwanda have been working on a deal — which has been delayed, partly, by the Covid-19 pandemic and by Qatar hosting the Fifa World Cup — to grant the Gulf nation’s airline, one of the world’s largest, a 49 per cent stake of Rwanda’s flag carrier airline for an undisclosed sum.

“It’s been going on for a while, we have been discussing it for almost five years. So, now, we’re really at the tail-end of it,” Makolo said.

Senior executives close to the negotiations expect the “execution” of the agreement to happen as early as July.

RwandAir already has access to Qatar Airways’ network thanks to a code-share agreement that also gives the Doha-based airline to access regional capitals such as Burundi’s Bujumbura.

“We access over 70 points on their network, and they access a number of points, especially in central Africa, where they don’t have a presence”, Makolo said, adding that the deal would help RwandAir expand its fleet and routes and upskill its staff. RwandAir currently owned only three widebody aircraft used for its Brussels, London and Paris flights, she said.

RwandAir was voted Africa’s 6th-best carrier by Skytrax last year, behind bigger ones such as Ethiopian Airlines, the continent’s largest, that flies to more than 130 destinations, and the embattled South African Airways, which entered into bankruptcy proceedings in 2020 after decades of government bailouts.

Rwanda's strategic location also makes it a prime target for Qatar Airways' expansion plans. Nestled in the heart of Central Africa, Rwanda boasts a well-developed aviation infrastructure, with Kigali International Airport serving as a vital gateway to the region.

Additionally, Rwanda is constructing a brand new airport – the $1.3 billion Bugesera International Airport – scheduled to be operational by 2027. This state-of-the-art facility, with an initial capacity of 8 million passengers, has the potential to transform Kigali into a major transit hub within Africa.