Without my luggage left in Paris by AF, it's with bitterness that I discovered the 3rd Terminal in DXB at 1:30 am after a quick AED 35 taxi ride from T1 (Since no bus or metro service links it to T1/3) as, sadly RwandAir relocated here from T1 in March 2015.
T2 is a single-storey passenger terminal which has been recently renovated and refurbished with all necessary facilities such as bars, restaurants, cafes, duty free and lounges. It houses low cost airlines and third world carriers like Eritrean Airlines, Iraqi Airways and Turkmenistan Airlines.
At 2 am near zone 2, the typical African crowd was gathered with an average of 3 large bags per person when the station manager came to inform the desks would open at 2:45 am.
The friendly Asian agent confirmed the most important information of the day: the "big aircraft is on its way" and allocated seat 2H.



Despite being entered in the UAE well past midnight, the passport was stamped the day before, which was a good thing as it would have been very hard to justify to the immigration officer the present 2 hours and half stay here :-) . Yeah I love visiting airport terminals... lol

RwandAir JCL guests (not sincerely sure about the future Premium Eco) can use the Marhaba lounges right after the passport control. Past the reception desk, this blind facility includes 2 rooms of different size and amenities, however the mayor disappointment is the lack of shower. Interestingly both dinner and breakfast food items were on display of the main lounge room.



Thankfully only a few meters separated the lounge from the correct gate. T2 doesn't have any jetbridge at all, hence passengers are bussed to the aircraft after a rather useless priority boarding call for business and frequent travellers.






WB301
Dubai – Kigali
6:40 – 10:40 (6:00)
7:05 – 11:00 (5:55)
A332 9XR-WN
Seat 2H – Business




At door 2L, a well groomed male greeted and checked the stub to direct the flow of passengers. The first impressions of the brand new cabin were extremely positive! Much better than the hideous eccentric colour scheme mixing 70's style orange and grass green that render had unveiled last year!
One feels a more soothing and conducive atmosphere for resting.



The senior stewardess offered the cloakroom, then handed over some newspaper and when boarding was completed, as often, a service of hot towel and PDB (passion/orange juice or water) followed.



Since RwandAir flies to a growing network in French-speaking African countries – annoucements were made in French and English from the flight deck, Kiswahili and Kinyarwanda from the the cabin crew sounded very just logical when they were heard, who then apologized for the 40 min delay at push back.


Take off video:


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Since the inflight entertainment was operational as soon as boarding, an opportunity to flick through the channels on the standard sized touchscreen (for JCL) appeared during the climbing. No much room for improvement here, the overall content rivals with the likes of ET and KQ. The movie and series selection focuses mainly on Western (US only??) stuffs. Too bad for a country whose mountainous landscape has earned the moniker of "Hillywood" omits to support local, Nollywood and African blockbusters, clearly its bread and butter so far!



The fully extended position of the seat does not guarantee an optimal digestion and rest, unless one activates the massage function – or it may just be a personnal feeling. Due to photo limitation, you'll get the pictures of the empty premium Y (not yet bookable) on the return leg.


(Fast forward)
Captain Marcel came into the blower for enquiring of our well being, giving our current position and annoucing the beginning of "the end". A minute or so later, the friendly Rwandan stewardess brought over a glass of bubbly along with a bottle of still water!Service hard to fault !


Jackets were handed over, cabin got prepared and secured and "Ubumwe" touched down runway 28 at 11:15 am, meaning a wee 40 minutes late.

Video of landing at Kigali





A short walk on a wet apron enabled half the pax to enter in Rwanda or the other half to continue the journey elsewhere in Africa.




Usually I'm taking the escalator down to the right to the immigration posts but for the first time in my life – lol – I turned left to the transfer desk where an employee checked the passport and the onward ticket ! Surprised to see my Rwandan travel document, she asked me a few questions to be sure my trip to NBO happened that day !

Airside, one can go to the Bourbon Coffee eatery at the left hand side (apron on your back) serving decent snacks and tasty hot meals, for a cheap bill (in USD/RWF currencies) if you are coming from western countries and moderate for any other SSA countries. The problem is that apart from the South Korea brand charging station and the not 4G unlimited free wifi no other activity are available but the 2 old school style duty free shops (=no magazine/electronics/movies to buy) for an airport ranked 2nd best in Africa (or 7th according to ST btw) which aims to welcome/transfer travellers from all around the world soon !

But what could sadden you the most is certainly the spotter unfriendliness of KGL, and I really mean it !
The luckiest ones with a good angle, can at best glimpse passengers disembarking at the Bourbon Coffe shop. Otherwise, like many other travellers, you just have to settle for the engines sound. Even in Bujumbura, Lilongwe or Lusaka, the apron view from terminal is far greater !
A 2h break from flying, I tried to buy Air time card, apparently only available at the lounge reception desk. Local MTN & Airtel airtime cards cost a fortune airside, jeez some RWF 7000 or 3000 for the same RWF 5000 or 2000 card landside.

Good news that stay at the windowless third party Pearl Lounge got reduced for 2:20 as the DXB-KGL landed late. Unfortunately it prefers to advertise for the local helicopter company « Akagera Aviation », instead of letting the natural light brightening the vast room up despite offering an encouraging product with a nicely featured kid zone, some South Korea brand Tablets free to use, a good selection of regional newspapers, a free soft/beer (from Bralirwa) bar + some basic salads and cold food items that one eventually has to ask a waiter to be reheated.

I've read somewhere that by June RwandAir will provide its own lounge to its premium guests and won't use anymore the Pearl Lounge – With a trip already planned to East Africa I'm looking forward to see how high they will rise the bar...



During my stay there was at best a dozen of passengers !
Like some airports in Scandinavia, you must plan ahead to leave early to get to the (second) security control, without any priority lane for premium guests !



WB402
Kigali – Nairobi
13:35 – 16:00 (1:25)
13:30 – 15:50 (1:20)
B737 9XR-WB
Seat 2A – Business


Again no priority call for boarding at Kigali, which was not a big deal though, as we were bussed to the aircraft even if 300 meters separated us from gate.



I've flown this 738 at least once, on a KGL-DXB back in 2014, which means a comfortable recliner seat for this short leg to NBO! No PTV worked but the overhead screens showed the route map – can't complain !

J cabin welcomed 10 pax/16 and once everyone was onboard, the male purser handed over a hot towel and a welcome drink (bubbly, juice and water). Hard to recall this even on a 2h European flight whatsoever !



At the cruising altitude, the crew started the speedy but attentive service, with a drink (full bar) along with nuts. But why we did not get these nuts before the dinner on the KGL-DXB sector instead of the sweet honeycomb crunch??? ( report to follow asap).
Then the Rwandan senior crew member offered a choice of 2 hot meals – chicken or beef. I opted for the latter which tasted a way too salty for my liking yuuck – and God knows I love salty meals :-( ;however the bread roll was warm. Since end of August 2014, there is a new catering unit at this small airport. Airline Services & Logistics PLC, a Nigerian company, was granted a 15 year exclusive concession in Rwanda, which allows RwandAir to serve hot and decent meals on the medium-long haul routes (i.e.: ACC, COO, LUN, HRE, LOS, ABJ, DXB and JNB).




The cake was nice and due to the duration of the flight, it was obviously impossible to get an Amarula or a hot drink – nevermind !



We landed on time and the aircraft was parked at the regional/domestic terminal at the eastern side of the airport, where a noisy immigration officer asked me too many questions before, probably being fustrated by my honest and « boring » answers, stamped my passport the pole pole way... he was in a such happy mood !