Flying to Rwanda in old business class on Rwandair's A330/200
It is not among the top five in Africa, neither by fleet nor by network. However, Rwandair is the African airline [...]
KGL
It is not among the top five in Africa, neither by fleet nor by network. However, Rwandair is the African company of the moment: has a five-year plan in sight by which it will double its destinations on the continent and also grow (North America) on the intercontinental. He is about to join Oneworld and is in the final throes of an agreement by which Qatar Airways will purchase its 49%.
In this article:
- Specifications
- Aircraft:
- A330-200
- Class:
- Business
- Treat:
- CDG - KGL
- Price:
- Press trip
- Book
The best bonuses
On the short and medium range it has A fleet of Dash8 turboprops, plus Canadair CRJ-900s and Boeing 737-700s and -800s. On the long haul he uses Airbus A330s. Before Covid, from its hub in Kigali it went as far as Guangzhou, China (via Mumbai). Today, however intercontinental network includes Mumbai, Paris and Brussels (served ''on line,'' i.e., on the same flight that stops at Charles De Gaulle before ending its run in Belgium) in addition to London Heathrow, which will become a daily connection in a few weeks.
There are three A330s. Two of the -200 series and one of the -300 series. The 'surprise' (not exactly welcomed by business class passengers) lies in one of the two A330-200s. While, in fact, one -200 and the -300 have a very high quality product with lie-flat seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, the other -200 is a former Colombian Avianca aircraft, which Rwandair has chartered for four years to cope with demand on European flights, while waiting for the agreement with Qatar to go through and open possibilities for an expansion of the long-haul fleet.
The former Avianca has a layout in Business Class 2-2-2. And so far, so good. Other African airlines (Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, some Royal Air Maroc 787s) also have similar Business cabins on long-haul. The point is that the Rwandan A330. does not have lie-flat seats, that is, which turn into perfectly horizontal beds, but of the 'Very pushed' recliners that reach 170°. Great stuff for the 4-5 hour sectors (Bogota-Miami, Bogota Los Angeles, Bogota-New York, Bogota-Rio or Sao Paulo) on which the Colombian company used that plane (which is 12 years old). Less so for the 8-9 hour ones (and all overnight) on which Rwandair uses it between Africa and Europe (and vice versa).
It happened to me (between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Kigali) that very plane there.. After a ride to the Extime Lounge in CDG Terminal 1. (which Rwandair shares with a dozen other airlines, including Emirates), I reached the gate where the A330-200 was parked waiting for the 8:30 p.m. departure time.
That it was the 'wrong' plane, I had figured out by checking in through the company's excellent (fast, functional) app. So when I boarded and I saw the rows each arranged on three pairs of seats, I was resigned. Three rows were in the front of the cabin, between the first two doors, another two further back, for a total of 30 seats. Mine, 5K, was a window seat on the right side of the last row.
The first thing I noticed was. the huge pitch, with a distance between my row and the front row that allowed me, while seated, to stretch my legs forward without touching the backrest in front. The width of the seat was also remarkable. So was the size of the flight entertainment screen. Everything else (environment, gray-black leather-covered seat trim, lights) far less.
Let's say that if I had a 4-5 hour daytime flight ahead of me, I would have felt like a pasha. With a night in the plane ahead, less so. If the context was reviewable, the service was quite different (Rwandair has been chosen by Skytrax As the best African airline for cabin crews in 2022.): courteous, smiling, solicitous throughout the 8 hours. The 'side dish' average: vanity kit (ugly), insulating headphones, pillow and generously sized duvet.
On-board service began during the startup of the engines with the distribution of hot wipes, followed by a welcome drink (water, juice, and two varieties of champagne: a Piper Heidsieck and a Malard rosé, as evidenced by the two bottles that, at my request, the flight attendant displayed).
The process of ordering dinner was at least original: in absence of menu, the stewardess came by with a kind of agenda on which she had noted down 'chicken with vegetables' and 'beef with potatoes' As main courses. Stop. Nothing on appetizer, any cheeses and desserts, wines. In short, a presentation of the meal from economy class.
I went with the 'beef and potatoes', accompanied by a 2021 French cabernet-sauvignon poured from the bottle. While the table was covered with a white tablecloth, the food was served in porcelain plates with Rwandair's logo laid on a tray covered with a sheet of paper in the company's colors, quite unstylish compared to the cotton placemat that normally covers the tray.
In the end, the starter turned out to be. a small plate of bresaola with some sort of sweet & sour salad. The 'beef,' instead of being the overused filet mignon, was a delicious and very tender piece of braised meat accompanied by puree and confit cherry tomatoes. Desserts, two mousses. The one I chose, a cream and coffee mousse on a dark chocolate cookie, was one of the best desserts I've tasted on an airplane. Really a shame to 'throw away' food of such taste and quality by devoting a proper introduction to it.
Finished dinner in the absence of the usual (with other companies) hot towel, I devoted myself to IFE, which offered 168 movies, 11 TV series and cartoons, and about sixty music compilations. No trace, on the other hand, of the classic 'moving maps' that allow to follow route and flight data (altitude, speed, etc...).
Finally, I prepared for the night. But if, up to that point, the seat had 'distinguished itself' by its generous size, its little appeal to the eye, and its almost total lack of storage space for personal items, the 'best' part was yet to come, as 5K went yes into relaxation mode, with the leg rest lying down, but from there there was no way to make it look like a pseudo-bed, albeit slanted.
One of the flight attendants tried them all, even lifting the cushion and fiddling with some of the switches that were under the seat, but there was no way to dislodge 5K from its 'relaxation'. I then shifted to the neighboring 5J, but it too, though flattening a bit more, could not achieve the maximum lying position envisioned by its makers.
Thus, I made do as best I could, crouching down like a fetal position and eventually three hours of sleep (or something like that) I managed to pull it off, before the cabin lights (white neon, other than mood lighting) first, and theFlight attendant's announcement of upcoming breakfast then bring me and other fellow adventurers back from dreamland into the revisable Business cabin.
Compared to the excellent (albeit simple) dinner, breakfast turned out to be rather drab, with an almost tasteless omelet and chicken sausage, a pineapple fruit salad of similar taste, and a rather spongy croissant. The coffee, however, was not bad.
The absolute most remarkable part of the flight (see, to have the window seat?), Was the descent to Kigali, performed by flying over, at the very first light of dawn, a landscape of volcanoes, verdant hills, valleys bathed in thick fog, and villages of huts nestled on ridge crests. Africa the real one, albeit from above. Absolute spectacle.
Pro
- The huge space between the rows of seats
- The courtesy and accuracy of the service
- The quality and taste of food
Against
- The 2+2+2 configuration
- The seat that doesn't become a bed
- The aesthetics of the cabin, drab and dated