RwandAir, the national carrier of Rwanda, will launch direct service between Kigali and New York in the United States of America in June 2019.

This was disclosed by RwandAir's CEO Yvonne Manzi Makolo while speaking to ATW on the sidelines of this week’s IATA AGM in Sydney.

The East African airline will deploy a yet-to-be-delivered Airbus A330neo on the Kigali-New York route which is targeted at bringing more tourism to Rwanda.

According to the CEO, RwandAir also plans to launch service between Kigali and Guangzhou in China which will also begin early next year.

The airline will also add more short- and medium-haul destinations including Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Djibouti (East Africa), Bamako (Mali) and Conakry (Guinea).

From its main hub at the Kigali International Airport, RwandAir currently flies to 25 destinations across Africa, Asia and Europe with a young fleet of 12 aircraft.