BOEING FIELD, SEATTLE — RwandAir, the national airline of the country of Rwanda, on Thursday took delivery of its first Boeing 737-800.
The delivery sets two milestones both for the central African carrier and the continent as a whole. It is the first 737 delivered to any African nation fitted with the new Boeing Sky Interior. It is also RwandAir’s first new aircraft purchased directly from Boeing. (The two 737-500 jets in RwandAir’s fleet are leased. The company also owns two Bombardier CRJ-200s and a Dash8-200.)
“Today is a proud day for RwandAir as well as the country of Rwanda,” said Dr. Alex Nzahabwanimana, Minister of Transport for Rwanda. At a grand celebration dinner at Seattle’s Museum of Flight on Wednesday night, Nzahabwanimana also expressed the government’s commitment to using aviation for the betterment of the landlocked nation’s developing economy.
NYCAviation will be on board the long delivery flight to Rwanda. Follow @NYCAviation on Twitter for updates along the way: BFI-KEF-IST-KGL
