The national carrier, RwandAir, has been named among the most improved airlines in the world. The ranking, by UK-based consultancy firm Skytrax, was released at the 2018 World’s Airlines Awards in London on Thursday. The World’s Airlines Awards are widely known as the ‘Oscars of the aviation’ industry. The World’s Most Improved Airline award reflects an airline’s Quality improvement across the entire Awards programme, which analyses an airline’s change in the global rating, and performance improvements in different award categories. China Southern Airlines led the category with RwandAir, which is only 15 years old, coming at number 10 in the world. “The focus of the survey is for customers to make their own, personal choices as to which airline they consider to be the best, underlining the brand as the Passenger’s Choice Awards,” reads part of a statement from Skytrax, which runs an airline and airport review and ranking site. Ethiopian Airlines leads the category of the 2018 Best Airlines in Africa, followed by South African Airways, and then Air Mauritius, while Air Seychelles are fourth, with Kenya Airways in fourth. Singapore Airlines was honoured as the ‘World’s Best Airline’ in the Skytrax awards, followed by Qatar Airways and Japan’s ANA All Nippon Airways. With a fleet of 12 aircraft, including two wide-body Airbuses A330 acquired only last year, RwandAir currently serves 24 destinations across East, Central, West and Southern Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Last year, RwandAir started flights from Kigali to Mumbai, Harare, London (Gatwick) and Brussels, as well as Dakar from its new hub in Cotonou. The Rwandan carrier also introduced flights to Abidjan, Libreville and Brazzaville from its Cotonou hub. It also flies to Abuja and Cape Town. There are also plans to add Guangzhou (China), New York (U.S) Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Bamako (Mali) and Conakry (Guinea) to the airline’s expanding network. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
