Dreamliner makes maiden flight to Kigali A cultural dance troupe welcoming the new Ethiopian airlines' B 787 Dreamliner at Kigali International airport yesterday. The Sunday Times / John Mbanda. It was at around 2:25 pm as the Africa’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner touched down at Kigali International Airport with passengers’ optimistic that flying will be made easier and affordable .
The Ethiopian Airlines plane comes at the time when competition is raging on the aviation industry with Rwanda becoming an attractive destination for most industry players.
“We have been experiencing a lot of transit for the past three years in Kigali market, it is good for customers to get different options and better services,” Bruk Endashaw, Ethiopian Airlines Area manager for Rwanda said yesterday.
The 280-seater liner is made of light carbon material with 20 percent fuel efficiency becomes the biggest bird in the air and the first in the world outside Japan.
The plane codenamed ‘Africa first’ offers passengers greatly enhanced onboard comfort, has higher level of humidity, biggest windows in the sky and a unique lighting system with significantly reduced noise.
“The addition of Boeing 787 will enable Ethiopian to provide higher level of on board comfort to its valued customers in Africa and beyond,” Endashaw said
The 65 year old airline started flying to Kigali on April 4 1975 and currently operating a fleet of 48 aircrafts with another 41 on order which includes nine remaining dream liners and twelve A350-900s
“These acquisitions will help the airline operate one of the youngest and ultra modern fleet in Africa and provide more efficient and superior quality service to its customers,” Endashaw noted.
James Kamanzi, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Infrastructure, said the Airline’s milestone was a success for the industry and the entire continent.
“We are quite happy that we are getting more and better services in the aviation industry which means it will help us connect to the rest of the world at reduced costs,” he added
Indeed, Experts are hopeful that new innovations in fuel efficiency and increased capacity will help aviation operators slash operational costs especially on fuel, increase competition, translating in to reduced transport fares.
“We have seen new entries from Asian and European carriers, but as you know, Rwanda is growing so we don’t have a threat in competition, so we are doing our best to maximize our markets”, Endashaw added.
The Dreamliner will also make flights on September 12, where thereafter will be will be deployed to the airlines Washington route starting on September 20.
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