Trip Report: What’s Flying RwandAir Like?

I flew on RwandAir A330-300 last week. This was my first trip to Africa since the Pandemic. My report on flying RwandAir is here.

There is a daily service between the two countries. A330 and B737-800 are used in the service. The airline uses terminal 2 in the airport. The flight leaves at 2 am.

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Terminal 2 of Dubai

The check-in was on time. The Business Class has its own counter. There are many people connecting to other parts of Africa.

Business Class passengers can use the lounge but there is a queue to get in.

There is a lot of people at the Marhaba Lounge. You can use a credit card to enter the lounge.

The food selection in the lounge is consistent with other lounges in the same terminal.

Terminal 1 or 3 in the United Arab Emirates can take up to 30 minutes to walk from check-in to the gate. Business flyers prefer to fly in and out of Terminal 2 on short-haul trips.

There are many flights departing to South Asia and Africa at this time of the day.

All aircraft are parked at a remote bay. The passengers are boarding the bus. This would be less desirable in the summer due to the heat.

Onboard RwandAir A330

Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy are the three classes on RwandAir A330-300. I was among the first to board and took a few pictures.

The first officer in the cockpit is a friend of mine. She joined as a pilot cadet with the airline. She flew A320 and A330 in the airline and is now a first officer. She was the one who told me about the country.

The runway was explained by Captain Santosh. The altitude is over 5,000 feet.

Our flight would take 5 hours and 15 minutes to reach our destination. The flight level was over 40,000 ft.

It took almost an hour to board. Our departure was delayed by 30 minutes because of the fog on arrival.

champagne, orange juice and water are welcome drinks. Business Class handed out Amenity bags and menu.

The light was turned on after takeoff. The cabin had a late dinner service.

The starter was a plain fattoush salad. Lassgna with bell pepper is the main course. I didn't eat the dessert.

I was hoping to try some African dishes, but they are not on the menu.

The Rest of the Flight

The service ran fast. After 1.5 hours, the lights were turned off and I had a good night's sleep.

The gap between the cushions made it uncomfortable. I switched seats to row 1 because the flight was not full. The bed is long enough for my height.

I woke up in the middle of the night. The flight was too short to fully enjoy all the amenities.

We arrived at 6:20 am after the break. We have to use stairs to get to the airport. You can see the low visibility landing in my video.

Conclusion

I had a smooth flight. The hard product is comparable to most airlines.

There are only 2 widebody airplanes in the fleet, one of which is the A330-300. Unless you fly on the A330, you won't get to experience their long-haul product. The A330 flies to several destinations.

There are pros.

• Nice hard product on the A330
• Boutique feel of an airline, friendly staff

There are pros and cons.

• No Wi-Fi onboard, IFE is simple
• Not in an airine alliance, limited frequent flyer exposure

The outlook for RwandAir may be changed by the 49% strategic investment made by Qatar Airways.

I stayed at the One and Only Gorilla. It is one of the best luxury accommodations in the country. I hiked in the national park to see the gorillas. It was a unique opportunity to watch a primate. There are only three countries in Africa where you can see gorillas. You can see them in my video.

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