Rwanda national carrier Rwandair is set to utilise its 5th Freedom rights granted it by the Nigerian government with a maiden flight to Abuja, the country’s capital on May 2018.
According to atqnews.com, the bilateral airspace service agreement means that RwandAir can now operate another route into Nigeria to Abuja and also ply the Abuja-Yaoundé route without any limitations.
The fifth freedom right means that an airline has the right to carry passengers from one country to another and from that country to a third country.
RwandAir already operates the Lagos routes. The development is a big boost to RwandAir’s quest to expand its footprint on the continent, according to airline officials.
The two parties are also expected to exchange aviation expertise and conduct training.
“Our mission is to facilitate movement of people and goods across Africa and beyond; therefore this particular agreement will help us achieve the objective on top of promoting trade and tourism between the two countries,” said Chance Ndagano, RwandAir’s CEO.
Rwanda also recently signed a similar agreement with Cape Verde, and signed a MOU with Nigeria in December 2017 to facilitate technical cooperation in aviation.
RwandAir also plans to launch flights to New York, as well as other Asian destinations in 2019.
Within Africa, flights to Conakry, Bamako, Dakar, Lilongwe, and Durban are on the horizon too.
