RwandAir

Is RwandAir safe?

Yes. Rwanda's state-owned airline has never had a fatal accident or written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary an aircraft while flying on its own certificate. It holds an IOSA registrationIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary, Rwanda is in the FAA's Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary, and no Rwandan airline is on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary. What holds the score back is a pair of runway excursionsRunway excursionWhen an aircraft leaves the runway surface during take-off or landing, either off the end (an overrun) or off the side (a veer-off).More in the glossary in 2022, an ageing fleet that is now growing with second-hand A330s, and a national investigator that has published little since 2018. We score it 76.

What happened at Kigali in 2009?

The one deadly event under the RwandAir name was not flown by RwandAir. On 12 November 2009, flight 205 to Entebbe was a CRJ-100 that JetLink Express, a Kenyan airline, flew on behalf of RwandAir with its own crew. Just after take-off, the left thrust lever jammed at high power. The crew circled, landed back at Kigali and shut down the right engine, but the left one kept running hard. As ground staff went to chock the wheels, the jet surged forward, knocked down blast fences and drove about 500 metres into the VIP building. One passenger died.

Rwanda's investigators blamed the crew's poor knowledge of the aircraft's systems and their handling of the jammed lever. Contributing factors included a cowl strut probably left unstowed after maintenance, which can foul the throttle linkage. Under our rule for wet leases, the event counts on the record of the airline whose crew and certificate flew the aircraft, so it does not count against RwandAir.

Runway excursions are the weak spot

The record since then is clean of accidents but not of incidents, which is what the Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8 parts of the fleet have mostly produced.

• Entebbe, 20 April 2022. A CRJ900 from Nairobi with 60 people on board landed in a thunderstorm before dawn and veered off the right side of the runway. Nobody was hurt; the main runway was closed for about 12 hours. An investigation was opened, but we found no published report.
• Kamembe, 22 October 2022. A Dash 8-400 from Kigali overran the end of the runway at the small airport near the Congolese border and stopped about 100 metres beyond it, with no injuries.
• Nacala, 28 May 2024. An A330 burst a tyre taking off from Mozambique. The crew learnt of it by ACARS on the way to Kigali and landed there safely. France's BEA lists it as a serious incident under Rwandan investigation.

There were also engine and pressure problems that ended in safe returns: a 737 near Cape Town in 2018 and an A330 whose Rolls-Royce engine rolled back after take-off from Heathrow in January 2023. Two runway excursionsRunway excursionWhen an aircraft leaves the runway surface during take-off or landing, either off the end (an overrun) or off the side (a veer-off).More in the glossary in six months is the pattern that matters most here. Neither caused injuries, but both happened on short or wet runways, which is where African regional flying is hardest.

An ageing, rebuilding fleet

RwandAir is small. In October 2026 it was flying six Boeing 737-800s, one 737-800 freighter, A330-200s and an A330-300, and a single Dash 8-400, according to Travel Extra. Two CRJ900s and a second Dash 8 are parked as the airline phases out its regional jets.

Growth is coming through used widebodies. The A330-200 that arrived in Kigali on 24 August 2026 was built in 2009 for Oman Air, and four more are due before the end of the year, which would give RwandAir seven. The A330 is a fly-by-wireFly-by-wireA flight control system in which the pilot's inputs go to computers, which then move the control surfaces. Many such systems also stop unsafe manoeuvres.More in the glossary type with a long, solid record, but none of these aircraft is new and the airline has no A330neo, 737 MAX or 787. That is why the fleet scores 60, below Kenya Airways and well below Ethiopian.

Who regulates RwandAir?

The Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority. The FAA's April 2025 list puts Rwanda in Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary, the same as Kenya and Ethiopia. RwandAir's IATA membership means it has passed the IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit. The weak link is reporting: the accident investigation pages of Rwanda's infrastructure ministry list reports only up to a 2018 event, and their PDF links no longer open. For incidents after 2018 we relied on the BEA, AeroInside and press reports, so a short list is not proof of a clean one.

How to fly RwandAir more safely

• Expect the long-haul jet to be an A330. Swaps between the -200 and -300 are common as new aircraft arrive, so check your seat map again before departure.
• On regional flights, allow for weather. Afternoon thunderstorms around Kigali, Entebbe and Lake Kivu cause holding and diversions. A diversion is the crew doing the right thing.
• Check who operates your flight. RwandAir has used aircraft and crews from other airlines in the past; the operating airline is shown on your booking.

How we scored it

The accident record (90) is clean on RwandAir's own certificate, held below the top band because the airline flies far fewer flights than the world's largest carriers. Oversight (80) reflects IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary and FAA Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary, less a few points for thin public investigation reports. The fleet (60) and incidents (62) are the weak factors. Compare Kenya Airways at 75 and Uganda Airlines, its young neighbour.