This archive report was first published on 11 December 2019.
Published on December 11, 2019, Rwanda and Qatar have entered into a historic partnership to build the Sh. 131 billion Bugesera International Airport outside Kigali. The airport, when complete, will have the capacity to handle 14 million visitors annually, more than double the current capacity of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
JKIA currently handles 6.5 million passengers annually, with a passenger capacity of 7.5 million. The new airport will be a significant boost to Rwanda's aviation sector, positioning the country as a regional aviation hub.
Under the partnership, Qatar Airways will take a 60 percent stake in the project, which involves the building, owning, and operating the new airport. The airport will be designed to accommodate seven million passengers per year, with a second phase for 14 million passengers a year expected to start by 2032.
According to reports, the proposed airport will be more than double the investment that Kenya would have invested in the now-cancelled Green Field Terminal at JKIA. The new investment is also expected to increase Rwanda's chances of getting category one status, enabling its national carrier, RwandAir, to fly directly to the US.
Qatar Airways is likely to use the airport as its East African regional hub, connecting passengers to other destinations such as the US and Europe without having to fly back to Doha. The airline may also operate some of its flights from Kigali, saving operational costs due to the longer distances to Doha following an air blockade by four Middle-East countries.
