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RwandAir signs $160 mln loan deal for two Airbus jets
An engineer cleans an Airbus 330 at the Sri Lankan airlines maintenance hangar at the international airport in Katunayake, 30km (19 miles) north of Colombo, February 11, 2013. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
26/06/2015
KIGALI (Reuters) - RwandAir has signed a deal with a regional African bank for a $160 million loan as part of the financing to buy two aircraft from Airbus, the airline and the bank said on Thursday.
The loan will be arranged by the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development (PTA) Bank and will be partly used to buy an Airbus A330-200 and Airbus A330-3000 to be delivered by 2016 as part of an expansion plan announced by the airline in April.
"We'll have to upgrade our Dubai route with a much bigger aircraft that has capability to carry more passengers, baggage and cargo. That is a route that's already suffering as we talk," RwandAir CEO John Mirenge said at a signing ceremony in Kigali.
RwandAir signed a memorandum of understanding in March for the Airbus purchases, worth about $500 million based on list prices.
Mirenge said the airline would also receive its second Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft later on Thursday.
In addition to the Bombardier plane being delivered on Thursday, the airline that was formed 13 years ago has a fleet of two Boeing 737-800NGs, two 737-700NGs, two CRJ900NGs and one Dash 8-200.
RwandAir flies from Kigali to most capitals of east and central Africa, as well as to Lagos in Nigeria, Accra in Ghana and Johannesburg in South Africa. Its sole destination outside the continent is Dubai.
Lloyd Muposhi, head of trade finance at PTA Bank, said the loan will have a 10-year tenor.
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