The Rwandan national carrier, RwandAir, has embarked on the next step in its expansion programme by adding six more destinations on the African continent.

John Mirenge, the RwandAir chief executive, said the airline will open new routes to Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Harare in Zimbabwe, Lilongwe in Malawi, Cotonuo in Benin, Khartoum in Sudan and Bamako in Mali.

"We want to consolidate our presence in West Africa by including Abidjan on our flight list this year and later on move to Southern Africa as part of the strategy to strengthen our footprint on the continent," Mirenge said on Wednesday.

Africa's fastest-growing airline also plans to expand its operations to European markets, starting flights to London and Paris and, later next year, India and Guangzhou in China.

RwandAir currently flies to 18 destinations, including Nairobi, Entebbe, Mombasa, Bujumbura, Lusaka, Juba, Douala, Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjalo, Johannesburg, Dubai, Lagos, Libreville and Brazzaville.