ChrisLi

Hi all,

I am planning to attend conference in kigali and Rwandair seems the only sensible option for me now. I would love to ask what's their track record for new flights as I saw they have extended their BOM flight to CAN, so I can do HKG (car) CAN to catch the flight. The other alternative I can have is catch HKG KUL BOM and transfer or do it in SCB

blandy62

At this point they announced their intention to fly the route but nothing has been loaded yet.

B747-437B

They first announced this flight in 2014. It is now 2019 and we are still waiting. That should answer your question.

ChrisLi

It is loaded to at least skyscanner and Expedia, hence why I ask

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38...-in-june-2019/

that will be interesting ....

uanj

Just out of curiosity, if you are concerned about the airline's operational record why are you not looking at more established carriers like Qatar or Ethiopian?

ChrisLi

Budget issue ... my company allows me to fly business class but within a certain cost .... I have flew ET to KGL last year but this year the price difference is too much

I actually found some Kenya Airways flight at the budget I want but would require HKG-xBKK-xNBO-KGL where for Rwanda it will be HKG-(car)-CAN-(tech)BOM-KGL, so it's basically a direct 1-stop flight for me which is a lot nicer skipping all those transits. Plus reading online Rwandair seems like a decent airline that I would like to give it a try.

dvs7310

KQ via BKK was also a tech stop but did they stop flying to HKG (and CAN)? Personally I'd prefer via BKK that than driving to CAN. How much time are you adding by flying KQ? (including driving Hong Kong to CAN), looks to me from checking matrix it's pretty minimal on the layovers. Also how much time is there before your trip after they are supposed to start the route? If you have a buffer of a few weeks then I might gamble on it and hope for the best, if they don't end up flying then they are supposed to re-route you but from CAN the re-route might not be as ideal, though might actually get you on ET. The Rawandair price from CAN is pretty impressive, but if your company will allow the budget for direct from HKG on KQ then I don't see it being worth the hassle of driving to Guangzhou and it looks like you eliminate your time savings in transits with the drive.

moondog

I also have the option to fly business class when the price is right, but if I was based in HK, there's no way in hell that I'd contemplate the CAN option in favor of QR in economy.

ChrisLi

I believe KQ stopped flying HKG and all the flights I got via ITA Matrix was having TG / CX connection. Add to the annoyance is that I cannot directly ticket that flight and requires some complicated offline ticketing (for KQ and now ET... it's just annoying how incapable some corporate travel services are)

All in all I believe the time to travel is pretty much the same. Driving takes 2.5 hour in a 7 seat private car transfer that has pretty seamless connection at the border (I actually lives next to China in Hong Kong). I am flying in July while the route starts from June so I have some time to observe if it stays.

The annoying part is most QR does not have Premium Economy or else I would have done that. Flying Y for more than 15 hours does not really fancy me especially when I fly bit too much already....

I will put Rwandair and Qatar option to be equal in terms of convenience (i.e. 1 transit vs nil transit but long car ride). I just did drive from HK to CAN last weekend by myself which is fine for me and even better if someone is driving.

dvs7310

Do you not have the option of booking yourself online and getting reimbursed or using a corporate credit card that the company pays? Kayak has no problem generating an itinerary and going to the payment screen (via Vayama) for the KQ/CX combo. If you are absolutely stuck with a corporate travel agent offline, then you should be able to screen shot from Matrix with the routing info and they can produce it, any travel agent 'should' be able to do it without issue, however for your dates Kayak is showing an itinerary $200 cheaper than Matrix, just FYI.

From everything I've heard, Rwandair business class sounds ok, the seat configuration is superior to KQ but I actually like the seat better than KQ is using if you can get a center section seat. I sleep much better in a 787 than an A330 (they are quite noisy by today's standards) and I also prefer the longer 8-9hr flight BKK-NBO to sleep than the broken up 6h CAN-BOM then 6h again BOM-KGL, I'd rather have the longer unbroken rest time, but that may not be as important to you.

flying_blue_white_red

Isochronous

What's wrong with CAN? Routes like these are a fine testament to the effects of the OBOR policy. Opening up new services and opportunities.

moondog

Getting to CAN from Hong Kong is a pita.

ChrisLi

If you have a private car transfer / driving I find it perfectly fine. Actually I have the option to fly HKG CAN connection as well but just doesn't make sense time-wise

Atuchan

If you want to fly with single connection and on same airline from HKG/CAN to KGL, I can only think of QR via DOH, TK via IST, ET via ADD (CAN/HKG), or KL via AMS, (not counting stopover at EBB) . Otherwise, CX/SN via BRU or CX/EK/WB via DXB could be other options but you need to fly with two different airlines and may be quite expensive.

In the past, WB announced new routes but sometime it puched back the start date but once it is gets going, WB is pretty steady in terms of operation (our colleagues swear that KQ is much worst about cancelling flights). In terms of seating, WB's new 330s have Vantage XL seats for business class which is very comfortable to sleep in (nicer than ET, TK, or KL). While in-flight catering is quite underwhelming (especially as compare to QR and TK), you usually encounter friendly flight attendants on board. If you want to sleep, I would seriously recommend RW, although the time table indicates that you most probably will be woken up during BOM stopover (at least outbound from CAN).

WB500 KGL0050 – 1130BOM1250 – 2140CAN 332 x357
WB501 CAN2330 – 0320+1BOM0420+1 – 0740+1KGL 332 x357

In any event, please enjoy your stay in Kigali (Murakaza neza!)