Rwanda national flag carrier launches flights to Nigeria's Abuja

KIGALI, April 27 (Xinhua) -- RwandAir, national flag carrier of Rwanda, on Friday commenced flights to Abuja, Nigeria's capital.

The Boeing 737-700 aircraft to Abuja left Kigali International Airport from the Rwandan capital city Kigali at around 10:30 a.m. local time.

Abuja is RwandAir's second destination in Nigeria, the airline said on its Twitter handle. The direct flight setting out from Kigali will operate on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, said the airline.

Abuja will help RwandAir to increase connectivity between East and West Africa and the rest of the network and enhance partnership between Rwanda and Nigeria, according to Patrick Manzi, airline's Senior Manager Promotions and Customer Loyalty.

The expansion was informed by Nigeria's business potential, said Manzi.

The route will be tagged to the existing route to Ghana's Accra and stop in Abuja before heading to Accra, said the airline in a statement issued this February.

With plans to also commence flights to Cape Town in South Africa, the two new destinations will increase RwandAir's destinations to 26, said the statement.

With a fleet of 12 aircraft including two wide-body Airbus A330 acquired last year, the airline fly to destinations across East, Central, West and Southern Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Enditem