Rwandair

Not Verified | The routing was Nairobi-Entebbe-Kigali-Lusaka-Johannesburg. Crazy itinerary however a good deal in terms of ticket price. First flight from Nairobi to Kigali was satisfactory. A330 from Kigali to Lusaka and Jo'burg offered lots of comfort with hot breakfast and hot snack served later. IFE was pretty pathetic on flights where it was available and otherwise non existent. On the return a terrible sandwich was served followed by a hot dinner. Overall not a bad airline, the cabin crew were very friendly. However ground services staff seem to be overwhelmed (especially when we flew the A330). Check-in was very slow both in Nairobi and in Johannesburg (Was told I was not on the list when arrived at JNB for Check-in!) and all except two departures were slightly delayed without any explanation or any information given. Good airline if you're trying to save money.

✅ Trip Verified | Gatwick to Kigali return, with a stop in Brussels each way during which you stay on the plane. I was astonished at how good this airline was given prior experiences of African airlines, it is as good as the better European airlines. The planes seem to be pretty new (ours was a 2 year old Airbus A330). The seats were comfortable with plenty of leg room even in economy. The food was pleasant which is always a surprise on any airline in economy. The cabin crew were very friendly and professional. The return flight was on time and whilst there was a short hour delay outbound this was due to the ongoing air traffic control shambles in Europe this summer, not the airline. The only hiccup was a lost bag on the way back but this was resolved efficiently by the airline despite a complex onward itinerary - and the Gatwick luggage desk said it was extremely rare to have lost bag on this airline suggesting it is not a systemic issue. A final point, although we were not connecting in Kigali, many passengers were. They appear to hold onward flights in the event of delays so as a connecting option for various African destinations this airline could be a good option.

✅ Trip Verified | Johannesburg to Abuja via Kigali. I was supposed to fly as per my boarding passes attached, we were notified that there is a flight delay and we won't make our connection, a promise was made that our bags will be offloaded and brought back to us. We waited and nothing happened, our business trip is compromised as all my presentation notes and suits are in the luggage, not to mention that the host had to make other arrangements as we were a day late. I am very dissaponted at how Rwandair treats its customers, we've made several communications to no avail. I will never ever fly Rwandair nor recommend it to anyone ever.

✅ Trip Verified | The RwandaAir cabin crew were very friendly, informative, and could go the extra mile to ensure that the traveler's needs are met. The captain as well was welcoming. The food was enjoyable too, and people could be explained about the available choices before being served.

Not Verified | Flew Cape Town to Harare with Rwandair. The flight attendants were cheerful and very helpful. The space inside the plane was excellent and so was entertainment. However, my checking in was a total nightmare. Spent almost 30 minutes trying to check in. As if the attitude wasn't enough, I was travelling with a minor and had a lot of bags, the lady kept asking me to remove my bags from the scale and put them back on the floor. She did not know how to check in a minor hence kept calling her supervisor who was busy chit chatting. She miscalculated my excess lagguage only for me to correct her (she did not even use a calculator). Asked me if I wanted to pay with cash or card and I told her card, only for her to say 'we only take cash'. Why didn't you just say so in the 1st place?. As if that is not enough, she spent a good 2 minutes asking me questions like "Are you sure you can identify the goods in your bags, are these your bags, are there any fragile material?" How can I be checking in bags that are not mine and if there was something fragile that needed proper handling dont you think I would have told you? Late Departure also. Since its a new route I think the overall experience was just satisfactory.

✅ Trip Verified | I flew from Kigali to Lusaka (Return) and I was really happy with both flights. The service was efficient despite the flights being quite busy and the food served was good. Flights left and arrived on time. I would happily recommend Rwandair for travel within Africa and beyond.

Arusha to Kigali via Dar es Salaam. I arrived to Kilimanjaro Airport at 4p.m, after taking a bus because if I waited my belatedly flight I had never been arrived on time to Kigali. When I arrived they said me that my flight to Kigali is cancelled. They didn't know how long. I sat down and after 30min without information I spoke with a lot of people who works in the airport but not with personal of Rwandair because after they said me waiting they disappeared. Now finally, I will take other flight with another airline to Dar Salam where I used to search someone who wants give me another ticket to flight to Kigali. They said me that I need to tell in Dar Salam my story another time to anybody of Rwandair. I don't know what more will happen. I feel that It is a bad airline company and It is the last time that I will take a flight with them. Also staff in Kilimanjaro Airport with this airlines are having inadequate and inpolite treatment. I feel so defrauded.

✅ Trip Verified | Flew Rwandair from Harare, Zimbabwe. to London, UK. via Kigali. My children’s allergies were not taken seriously. They both have anaphylactic reactions to various food. I struggled to get suitable meals for them and my children were given nothing but fruit at times yet hot meals could and should have been prepared for them. I checked in Kigali if they’d have their correct meals given to them and was reassured everything had been sorted. To my surprise nothing had and staff didn’t know if allergens were in the meals they were serving. You are only asked if you want 'beef' or 'chicken' and won’t know till you open your meal if it was spicy or not. I tried to swap my child’s meal as they’d been serving beef curry with pasta and a creamy chicken dish with rice. All I’d been told was 'beef or curry' by a very rude member of staff. I asked if both my kids’ untouched and unopened meals could be swapped with chicken but the vile member of staff argued with me saying the meal which he hadn’t tasted himself, wasn’t spicy! What could have been resolved in seconds took longer than necessary. He challenged me in an aggressive tone, which was completely unnecessary. He reluctantly agreed to swap the meals over. He’d told me there were no other meals for my children so I based my choice on guess work. Had I known in advance that my children’s dietary requirements wouldn’t be met on such a long flight, I’d have spent my money elsewhere. Other than that there were several stops and delays on our way to Zimbabwe. Seats were double booked from Kigali to Lusaka. On our return we struggled to find seats with our children and staff announced that passengers should sit wherever there was a seat. Staff made sure toilets were clean but they could have at least changed gloves as they wore the same gloves they’d been wearing while serving food. The plus side is: one of their meals was delicious, their flights are generally more affordable than most but that comes with a price. Rwandair has more luggage allowance than most in relation to Zimbabwe, staff on our way to Zimbabwe were friendly and approachable aside from speaking in their own language, they also kept passengers well hydrated considering the heat. It would be helpful for staff to carry a laminate list of ingredients as none of them seem to know what’s in the food they serve and it would be helpful to actually say to passengers “Would you like beef curry served with pasta or would you like creamy chicken and rice” rather than “beef or rice”. Some customers who don’t eat spicy food can make a choice rather than having to guess and waste food by returning or swapping it. To and from, staff didn’t know what sort of meals they were serving.

✅ Trip Verified | Entebbe to London via Kigali. I can thoroughly recommend this airline. The service is as good as (or in many cases better than) any major airline, with cabin crew who are courteous, helpful and attentive with good quality food and beverages. The aircraft are new and the cabins are spotless. The seating in business class offers lay flat beds and they offer Premium Economy cabin. I travel a lot in Africa and even if there are quicker options I prefer to take this airline. Punctuality is good and in flight service even on short flights is excellent. The let downs are the appallingly slow security check at Kigali which can take an hour which causes delays to flights at busy times. This is a problem required to be addressed. Also they could do with a wider choice of films on the entertainment system.

✅ Trip Verified | Gatwick to Dar es Salaam via Kigali. We had a very good experience with Rwandair - new plane, ample seats and leg room, all drinks were free including alcohol and staff were friendly and polite. On baggage checkin, a novice member of Gatwick’s baggage handling staff, accidentally pressed the button to send one of our suitcases onto the conveyor belt without any tags or labels on it. Disaster we thought but were reassured that it would very quickly be found. After several enquiries as to its whereabouts, we found ourselves at the gate about to board, still without the missing case. We didn’t want to board the plane knowing it was here at Gatwick, but were approached and reassured by staff that he would make it his personal mission to find the case. He gave us his card and we decided that email would be the best method of contact. We arrived in Dar es Salaam where we had an email from him saying he hadn’t yet found the case - our hearts sank as we felt there was little chance of finding it. We had one night in Dar, then caught the ferry over to Zanzibar, where we spent another night in Stonetown. That morning he emailed us to say that the case had been found, sent on the first available flight to Dar to then be forwarded by air to Zanzibar airport where it would be arriving at 4pm that afternoon. We couldn’t believe it! So, thank you Rwandair, we have sung your praises since coming back home because it was the personal touch that set you aside from other reputable airlines. We would very much enjoy flying with you again and would highly recommend this airline to anyone considering it. No need to worry, they’re brilliant - go ahead and book it.