Rwanda’s national carrier, RwandAir, has expressed optimism of recovery following a resumption of majority of its routes that were halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The return to the skies was announced by the airline’s CEO, Yvonne Makolo.
Makolo was commenting about the recently approved bilateral deals, which she said offers the national carrier an opportunity to fulfill its mission of connecting Rwanda to the rest of the world.
“I think we are doing quite well from a recovery perspective. We have so far resumed 70 percent of flights that were halted by the pandemic,” she said.
The Rwandese government in March this year closed all commercial flights flying in and out of the country in a bid to contain the novel coronavirus. Only evacuation and cargo flights continued to operate.
RwandAir was operating 29 destinations across Africa, Europe and Asia before suspending its passenger flights back in March.
Some of the measures recommended by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) were among others temperature screening at entry points, maintaining physical distancing, regular sanitisation of touch objects and availing hygiene products onboard and at airports.
IATA also advised that health declaration and robust contact tracing may be undertaken by governments to reduce the risk of imported chains of transmission.
Makolo highlighted that the Government already announced that it will increase funding to the national carrier to Rwf145.1 billion in the 2020/21 fiscal year, up from Rwf121.8 billion the previous financial year, citing that it will bring more muscle to help the airline respond to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
