RwandAir continues its recovery from the pandemic by adding additional routes to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from September.

As of September 29, the Rwandan flag carrier is to launch new twice-weekly services to both Lubumbashi, the DRC’s mining capital, and Goma​​ – capital of North Kivu province, on the shore of Lake Kivu on 15 October 2021.

Yvonne Manzi Makolo, RwandAir CEO, said: “RwandAir’s new twice-weekly services to Lubumbashi and Goma will add more choice and flexibility for customers flying to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“We believe these new routes will be extremely popular with RwandAir customers and increase both diplomatic and commercial links between the DRC and Rwanda.

“RwandAir is always looking for new markets to propel the airline’s network and enhance the choice of destinations and routes, not only across sub-Saharan Africa, but also to longer-haul destinations.

“We hope to announce further new routes in due course to ensure we meet the demands of our customers and continue to provide top-flight destinations.”

RwandAir’s first destination in DRC was Kinshasa in April 2019, with these two new services tripling available capacity to the country.

Services to Lubumbashi will depart Kigali every Monday and Wednesday, as WB264 at 10:10am arrives at 12:10pm. The returning WB265, departs Lubumbashi at 5:00pm, arriving back into Kigali at 7:00pm.

Flights to Goma will also depart Kigali every Monday and Wednesday, as WB266 at 12:40pm arrives at 1:20pm. The returning WB267, departs Goma at 1:50pm, arriving back into Kigali at 2:30pm.

Lubumbashi is the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and represents the main industrial centre for the mining district of southeastern Congo.

It acts as a hub for high volumes of the country’s largest mining companies, making it a hot spot for business travellers and is also home of the famous Simba Brewery, where the world renowned Tembo beer is produced.

Goma lies a few miles south of the active Nyiragongo Volcano, close to the border with Rwanda, on the shore of Lake Kivu, the largest lava in the world. The city is a great gateway to nearby wildlife, including Virunga National Park.