East African Business Week

KIGALI, RWANDA - RwandAir, Rwanda's national airline has announced it will launch direct flights to Lagos, Nigeria in December making the vast West African City its 13th destination.
RwandAir CEO John Mirenge made the revelation recently in the Rwandan capital Kigali when the national carrier was marking delivery of its brand new Boeing 737-800NG airplane from the United States adding to another one delivered in August. This increases RwandAir's fleet size to seven aircraft as the small airline strives to stay-off costly commercial leases of airplanes.
Mr. Mirenge said adding Lagos to RwandAir's destinations was just a 'natural addition'.  He said the first Boeing 737-800 New Generation delivered in August has been deployed into Dubai route, which is one of the airline's latest destinations.
RwandAir currently operates domestic and regional flights in East Africa, Central and Southern Africa as well as Dubai. Mirenge said the airline plans to extend flights to Asia.
However, RwandAir, which is acquiring all the planes on  loans guaranteed by the government to the tune of US$240 million, is facing tough competition from regional and international players.