RwandAir is back in the air. Having suspended all passenger flights in mid-March, the majority of RwandAir's aircraft have been cooling their engines at Kigali International Airport. But the Rwandan Government has made a deal with its flag carrier, and the airline will start flying again from the beginning of May. It's a small start with just one return service a week to Brussels. Nevertheless, it is a start.

Government ban isolates an entire country

Air services in and out of Rwanda were brought to a sudden stop in mid-March when Rwandan President Paul Kagame suspended all passenger flights in and out of the country. That suspension was set in place for 30 days.

While that decision hit RwandAir hardest, other airlines that operated into Kigali's Grégoire Kayibanda International Airport were effected. This included KLM, EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Qatar Airways, Kenya Airways, and Turkish Airlines.

That 30-day suspension has expired, but Rwanda's borders remain closed to all except returning citizens, cargo services, and emergency flights. That's a stance not out of step with many other countries. The problem was that Rwandan citizens who wanted to return home couldn't as no flights were operating for this purpose.

Weekly flight a result of negotiations between government and RwandAir

A report in Rwanda's The New Times says the weekly flight to Brussels is the result of negotiations between RwandAir and the Rwandan Government.

“This is meant to facilitate Rwandans, mainly students who want to come back for their summer holidays because they don’t have anywhere to stay after school,” said Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister Vincent Biruta.

Rwanda has historical links with Brussels. In 1916, the League of Nations gave Belgium a mandate to govern Rwanda. It did so until the end of WWII.

That link, along with a lack of other European carriers flying into Rwanda, has made Brussels a popular staging post for flights and passengers traveling to and from Rwanda via Europe.

The New Times report says the flights will operate on Fridays. At the time of publishing, details of the flights were not available on RwandAir's website. However, the airline typically sends an A330-300 to Brussels on a daytime flight out of Kigali. The return flight traditionally has a late evening pushback from Brussels to arrive in Kigali in time for breakfast the next morning.

Rwanda's Foreign Affairs Ministry is advising Rwandans scattered around Europe, who want to travel home, to get themselves to Brussels. Once there, they can connect onto the Friday RwandAir evening departure.

As a reference, there are over 500 Rwandans registered with the Rwandan Embassy in the United States who want to get home.

The United States bypassed in favor of Europe

Following an audit by the FAA two years ago, RwandAir has been cleared to fly into the United States. Technically, it could operate a couple of repatriation services across the Atlantic to North America. It's an 11,300 kilometer haul between Kigali and New York. That's probably a bit too close for comfort given RwandAir's flagship A330-300s have a range of 11,750 kilometers, and it's an overwater flight most of the way.

By running the weekly flights to Brussels, RwandAir uses a familiar airport as a staging post not only for Rwandans in Europe trying to get home, but also Rwandans from other countries who can travel via Europe.

Simple Flying has approached RwandAir for comment but has not heard back from them before publication.