Rwanda still afraid of opening her borders for fears of contracting Coronavirus which may become an overwhelming issue and danger to the Country’s health system. Travelers to be updated after 15 days on when restrictions are to be lifted as they will have to rebook again at no added cost either through the airline or travel agents.
Coronavirus, a flu like global pandemic that started late December 2019 in China’s city of Wuhan and later spread to other parts of the world including Africa led to the ban of flights on major routes and destinations as most airlines had to ground some of their fleet so as to limit the spread of the pandemic and to this Rwanda was not exception as H.E President Paul Kagame had to put the Country under mandatory lockdown since March this year when COVID-19 extended to Africa and among lockdown measures consisted closure of Kigali International Airport and all border entry points only to be left entry for Cargo and repatriation flights of foreign nationals.
Much as some foreign countries are easing lockdowns and some airlines are set to restart international passenger flights with limited passenger capacity late May given tight COVID-19 measures including mandatory wear of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), screening and quarantines for those who test positive before boarding any flight to any particular destination, Rwanda is still hesitant on opening her borders for international passenger flights fearing wild spread of the virus into the Country.
In a press statement written by Rwandair on Tuesday May 19th, Rwanda’s borders are to currently continue being sealed off to passenger flights as a measure to combat COVID-19.
According to the Statement, ‘’Rwandair will therefore extend temporary suspension of passenger flights until the restrictions are lifted at a date not mentioned so far’’.
However, the airline also advised all its customers holding Rwandair tickets to rebook the airline and fly at a later date when passenger flights are reopened without any extra cost as affected customers will have to contact the airline via reservations@rwandair.com or their travel agent incase their booking were not made directly with the airline.
Rwandair maintains that more updates on travel will be made in the next 15 days from the actual date of press statement issuance.
On Monday this week, Rwanda’s neighbour on the East, the United Republic of Tanzania announced in a press statement by the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Dr. Hamisi A. Kigwangalla that the Country will reopen its borders and international passenger flights so as to allow tourists back to the Country and together with stakeholders in the Tourism fraternity in partnership with Tanzania Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism revealed they had drafted plans on convincing tourists back to the Country amidst tight COVID-19 measures for both tour operators and the tourists as there will be no Quarantine for all inbound tourists since H.E President Pombe Magufuli had eliminated it to allow travelers back to Tanzania.
The reopening of Tanzania’s tourism economy comes upon speculation that most foreign countries are set to restart passenger flights as some are scheduled to flights to particular destinations starting end of May 2020.
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