Rwandair

✅ Trip Verified | The most useless airline I have ever flown. They cancelled my flight three hours before departure. No hotel accommodation was give, no info about the next available flight. Had to go back to their headquarters today and I met a an incompetent supervisor who refuses to let me talk to the manager or someone with a higher authority than him. Imagine him telling me that they are protecting me by conditioning me to wait till tomorrow and fly 18 hours or wait till Monday evening and do 15 hours back to Brussel, when other flights like KLM, Brussels Air, Turkish Air are available today. My advice to anyone, please refrain from taking Rwandair because the customers rights are not guaranteed or in any way respected. Am still stranded in Kigali. Not sure when to depart.

✅ Trip Verified | Pleasant, direct flight Kigali-Paris 4th April 2024 one of their (3?) A330-200. Ticket inexpensive, purchased on their website under promotion. However, initial ticket was not adjusted for European summer time which had just begun at the time of travel. Upon their discovery hereof, WB made schedule changes from Kigali causing a much later arrival in France. This caused made me fear losing my connection in Paris, to which I had only 55 Minutes to catch in a remote terminal. However, the Rwandair flight arrived 20 minutes early, which saved me. Dream lounge in Kigali is nice, accessed through my Dream-miles membership. However, every time I go there, budget and catering cuts are notable. Recent cuts are on hot snacks, lack of any imported soft drinks and beers, lack of alternative brewery representation (only products from Bavaria offered). Wines are undrinkable. No presence of music, no volume on TVs so the lounge is too quiet like a national museum. To watch Premier League in silence is tragic. Check-in a breeze. Had a dialogue on seating and I eventually had 4 seats to myself in row 13, as few wants that row number. Boarding quick and easy; by foot over tarmac. Catering is among the best of African airlines. Preordered seafood of high quality was given early, within 5 Minutes after seatbelt sign was switched off. Got a chance to test another type of fish meal as well, it was also delicious. Breakfast forgettable. Drinks fine, wines are surprisingly good, much better than those in their Kigali lounge. IFE was fine headsets given to all who wanted. Staff were good, attentive, polite, accommodating, and caring. The passenger is the king is never patronised unless in extreme cases. KLM staff could learn a lot here. Flight almost full, but due to my faith in row no. 13, I could stretch out across seats, and got a lot of sleep. Recommended. Miles credited instantly. A drawback for Rwandair is its isolation by not belonging to any bigger airline alliance. Partnership with Qatar Airways is weak, not reciprocal and does not access the Oneworld alliance.

✅ Trip Verified | RwandAir has a curious way of boarding passengers at Kigali Airport. Business passengers are invited to board first and are transported to the aircraft on a bus fitted with comfortable seats. However, after leaving the departure lounge, they are then held back while all the other passengers board an ordinary bus before they allowed on to their bus and driven to the aircraft. I can see what they're attempting to do but the reality is that you are left standing in a corridor, in my case for about ten minutes, before going to the aircraft. The A330 was clean and the seats, in my view, an almost perfect design with all of the controls accessible, the seat itself comfortable and the bed flat enough to sleep on. We were offered champagne, orange juice or water and orders for the meal taken before departure. The meal service was done effectively and although the presentation was more premium economy the food was tasty and there was a good selection of drinks. What was remarkable was the way in which one member of cabin crew managed to serve the entire business section with nobody kept waiting. Airlines will charge higher prices because they offer improved levels of service. RwandAir business flights tend to be far lower than rivals yet this flight demonstrated a quality far greater than the more expensive options on offer on its routes. All that it needs to do is to solve the weird boarding routine which I have experienced on more than one occasion.

✅ Trip Verified | Rwandair’s A330 business seats are functional with no obvious weaknesses. There was ample storage space at the side, a nice screen, well-placed sockets and switches and they all had aisle access. The best seats for single travellers are the window seats. Rwandair uses the No.1 Lounge at LHR which is nothing special and it was full to capacity although I did manage to get a seat. Boarding was efficient with business given priority. Departure was delayed for almost two hours by an unspecified technical fault but the cabin crew were happy to supply more champagne when asked. The meal service was efficient although drinks took a while to come. The food and wine choices were uninspiring. The flat bed was moderately comfortable and the cabin was kept pleasantly warm. Overall, I was impressed by the flight and given that the cost was considerably less than most other airlines it was good value for money.

✅ Trip Verified | I was very disappointed, their customer care is totally not good, they delay to take away utensils after dinner, the flight to Entebbe was delayed for more than a hour, Checking in at Heathrow was horrible, I was able to pay for my extra bag, but there was a lot of their staff all over me. I am now stuck at Kigali airport for more than an hour, no update for my next flight. Its very disappointing. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

✅ Trip Verified | I was scheduled to return to London, UK from Douala, Cameroon on January 05 at 1700 via Rwandair. I was flying with my wife and two young children (1 and 2 years old). We arrived at 1500 at Douala airport only to be told that the flight had been rescheduled for an earlier time and had already left. The flight was changed and no effort whatsoever was made to inform me. The staff acknowledge that we were not informed of the schedule update and apologised for the situation. We were then informed that the next available Rwandair flight to London was at 1700 on January 07. When we asked the Rwandair staff about flights leaving on 05 January via other airlines, we were initially told there were no other flights leaving on any airlines on 05 January - they were all fully booked. After speaking to Brussels airlines directly I was able to confirm that there was a flight leaving on 05 January at 2000. However, the only seats available were in business class. When this information was put to the Rwandair representative, he confirmed that there were indeed flights available with other airlines on the 05 January at higher fare classes (i.e. Business class). As my family missed our flight as a result of Rwandair oversight, I informed the representative that it was Rwandair's responsibility to rectify the situation. Even if this meant my family being upgraded to business class on the 2000 Brussels airline flight. However, the Rwandair representative was unwilling to take this course of action. They stated that they needed approval from senior management to book a a flight on another airline with a higher fare. The staff stated that as it was 1600 on a Friday, the senior management were not reachable. After lengthy discussions, they agreed to email senior management and seek approval. However, they refused to call senior management. I therefore contacted different representatives of Rwandair myself (using contact details online) to seek senior management approval. I was eventually able to speak to who I was told was the country manager. The country manager was not surprised this situation had occurred and rather than trying to rectify the situation, simply stated that the "local (Douala airport) Rwandair representatives know how to handle the situation". At the time of writing this message (2200 Jan 05) I have still not being contacted by other senior managers at Rwandair to whom I reached out. For Rwandair to refuse to rectify a situation in a convenient manner, and instead force my wife and two small children to wait two days for a new flight is beyond appalling. By flying on 07 Jan instead of 05 Jan, we will not arrive in London until the morning of January 08. This means neither my wife nor I will be able to go to work and my children will not be able to attend nursery. I await to see how Rwandair will rectify the situation and await them to contact me.

✅ Trip Verified | Paris-Kigali 31 Dec 2023. Nightflight, on a large A330-200. In Paris, transited between two distant laying terminals took more than 1 hour, despite luggage was already inscribed. Got access to a newer “extime lounge” in Terminal 1. This is a large, pleasurable, exotic lounge with outdoor areas and delicious buffets with well-prepared, tasty, exotic food dishes. At times, these 3rd party lounges surprises positively. Flight on time, not much seat choice possible as the flight was stuffed and quite cramped: New Year was knocking on the door. Onboard, I was well pampered, drinks flowing well, and food were plenty; two hot meals was served on this 8+ hours long flight. I had preordered seafood meal which was not only accommodated, but also tasty, filling, and well-prepared. Other dishes looked also nice. IFE worked OK (small, individual screens), earplugs, pillow, and blanket given. Managed to sleep 1-2 hours. Flight on time. Disembarkation and immigration in Kigali very quick and easy. Luggage arrived as expected although it had been soaked by water on the way. Cheap, promotional ticket, excellent value for money. Miles given. Never had serious issues with this airline after 20 flights. Will I fly again? How can I refuse!

✅ Trip Verified | They changed my seat when I arrived Kigali without even asking my opinion. It's not done anywhere in the world. I bought my ticket since August to travel in December just to make sure I get the seat I want. When I realized and asked her she was rude. Mainly in gate 4, today 29/12/23 transit to Dubai as shown on the boarding pass above. We pay for the services and no should act as if you're flying for free. Totally dissatisfied with this.

✅ Trip Verified | Kigali-Paris 7 Dec. 2023 on A330-200. On time. Rwandair is a small, boutique airline, often very competitive in price and on board service. Ground services varies, main potential issue is a slow response if called upon. Check-in a breeze, easy, opens early. They, surprisingly, agreed to check in and tag my baggages to my final destination in Europe, despite onwards flights were with other airline and on other ticket. What a nice courtesy, easing my transit in Paris tremendously as I just had to shift terminal airside without bothering of my luggage. In Kigali, got access to their nice Dream Lounge, a small oasis to relax at a busy time in the airport. Nice foods, hot snacks, but drinks are getting poor, e.g. wines are undrinkable. Embarked the plane upon a 2 minutes busride was pleasant avoiding a sudden downpour. Flight not full, pleased to be granted 4 seats in a row, stretching out for a good nights sleep. Preordered meal honoured. I got a fired and delicious red snapper (wild catch!) fillet steak. I further tasted other foods offered onboard; they were also good. Plenty of drinks of good quality. 2 meal rounds on a 9 hours flight was appropriate. FAs were marvellous and kind, with a local touch. Plenty of blankets, pillows, and headsets for the IFE which, however, is poor. Deboarding in Paris was quick. In conclusion the experience was very good, not extravagant, but pleasurable and smooth. Extremely good value for money as the ticket was cheap and promotional.

✅ Trip Verified | Flew Doha-Kigali 29 October after midnight on a worn B737-800. Qatar Airways had issued this award ticket for Rwandair and also issued the boarding pass prior to Doha arrival. Accessed the Gold Lounge in Doha (gate C14); its roomy and hold most facilities. Boarding smooth upon lengthy bus ride. Onboard, neither WiFi nor video entertainment were available. My pre-ordered special meal was not granted. Received apology and reasonable alternatives. Three kinds of hot food was offered; all good, filling, and plenty. Drink rounds were generous, incl. Provision of good wines. I inquired possible access for 3 empty seats in a row as a Dream Miles gold card holder. FAs, who were good and professional, took action on it. Eventually I got them and managed to sleep. Flight on time.