Confident and ambitious African airline RwandAir has declared that its new Kigali to Guangzhou service is performing better than it had expected.

The three times weekly service, which launched in the summer, has been hailed a resounding success by the Rwandan carrier.

Yvonne Manzi Makolo, CEO of RwandAir, said: “We always knew our customers would love flying to Guangzhou with RwandAir. But bookings by business and leisure travellers alike have really taken off and exceeded our expectations with very busy flights operating between the two cities. While it’s too early to say whether we will add additional capacity with increased services to Guangzhou, our first destination in China, we’re delighted by the initial response from customers.

“With the increasing volume of trade between China and African countries, we will continue to identify further opportunities for expansion to strengthen Rwanda’s ties with key overseas markets and increase trade and commercial links.”

Guangzhou is China’s third biggest city and boasts popular tourist attractions, such as the iconic Canton Tower and is renowned for its huge choice for shopaholics. The city is RwandAir’s second destination in Asia, following Mumbai which launched in 2017.

The expansion of RwandAir’s route network is designed to generate new passenger traffic and help boost Rwanda’s economy.