RwandAir to expand fleet to 16 planes over five years -CEO

By Clement Uwiringiyimana KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda's state-owned airline RwandAir plans to expand its fleet to 16 from 11 aircraft over the next five years, Chief Executive John Mirenge said. The airline, which took delivery of its second Airbus A330-300 this week, plans to buy two new Airbus by 2019 at the latest "but it could be even earlier,” Mirenge said. RwandAir signed a $160 million loan with PTA Bank to finance the purchase of the new Airbus planes. RwandAir is also scheduled to take delivery of a Boeing 737-800 in mid-2017. The airline plans to expand its network of destinations beyond Africa to the United States, Europe and India and will start flights to New York, London and Mumbai in 2017. "On the continent of Africa we’ll be launching six new destinations,” Mirenge told Reuters, adding that these would include Harare, Lilongwe, Conakry and Bamako in 2017. RwandAir, the flag carrier of the central African nation of 11 million people, carried almost 600,000 passengers in 2015 and expects to carry about 780,000 this year, Mirenge said. "Within the next five years, we plan to be carrying in excess of 1.5 million customers a year,” he said, adding the investment in the fleet and its expansion plans meant the airline was not yet making a profit. In future, Mirenge said the airline would consider listing on Kigali's stock exchange. "The time will come. We still want to grow the business to a point where it becomes viable and attractive and by that time we’ll list for sure," he said. Rwanda's government signed a deal with Portuguese construction firm Mota-Engil this year to build and operate a bigger airport in Bugesera, south of the capital. The new airport is due for completion in 2019. (Editing by Edmund Blair and Jason Neely)