RwandAir inaugural flight to London. / Courtesy

Heathrow Airport, a major international airport in London on Monday, November 7, welcomed RwandAir maiden direct flight, in a move intended to cater for the airline’s growing demand.

A highly placed source confirmed to The New Times that the national carrier landed in the morning hours of Monday. Passengers left Kigali around midnight.

The inaugural flight puts an end to a five-year long indirect service, where passengers traveling to London previously went through Brussels.

The new four times weekly service will be operated by A330 Aircraft, configured with two cabins (economy and business).

According to the airline, this is an increase from the airline’s three times a week service.

Flights are expected to depart Kigali every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 23:35pm, arriving in London at 06:20am the following morning.

The return flight departs the British capital at 20:30pm every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, arriving at the Kigali International Airport at 07:00 the following morning.

According to RwandAir, the schedule will also provide quick and easy connections via Kigali to a wealth of destinations in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

“We are excited to launch direct flights to London, which are on sale from today, due to the popularity of our current services,”RwandAir’s Chief Executive, Yvonne Manzi Makolo, said in an earlier interview.

“The UK is an incredibly important market for us, and we know our customers will value the shorter flight times and increased connections that will be offered by the new service,” she added.

RwandAir has previously laid out plans to improve connections for those traveling from ‘further afield’.

Just recently, the airline announced that it was exploring the possibility of joining the OneWorld Alliance, a major network bringing together different commercial airlines around the world.

RwandAir currently serves 28 destinations across East, Central, West, and Southern Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. By Sheena Teta Uwase, The New Times