Intro
The next portion of the great African adventure would see me heading to the most southern country on the continent. Following a lovely time in Kigali and trekking the Eastern Lowland Gorillas, it was time to head to South Africa! I hadn't been back to South Africa for quite some time, so it was exciting to re-enter a country that has a very dear place in my heart.
Well, how was the flight? RwandAir offers a decent product on their 737-800s. The service was quite good, and the seats had a decent amount of pitch. Unfortunately, due to a horrific flight time (I chose it because of the cost), I missed out on the meal service, which I wanted to review. Let's get into it!
Routing
Flight routing
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- 12WB102- Economy- Kigali- Johannesburg- Boeing 737-800
DRC Gorilla Trekking
The past four days was spent driving across the Ruzizi border in the Democratic Republic of The Congo to trek the gorillas. The DRC is a lovely place, and Bukavu was a bustling town. I had always wanted to see the gorillas, and thus I decided on the DRC for them.









I also stayed at a lovely hotel overlooking Lake Kivu.








Getting To Kigali Airport
Waking up at Hotel Nediva in the DRC, it would be a long day ahead getting to Johannesburg. The first part of the journey consisted of a drive across the Ruzizi border, through the national park, and onward into Kigali.
The roads through the national park in Rwanda can cause plenty of accidents. Check this car below which has certainly seen better days. I hope the passengers are alright.



By 3 pm, we had arrived back in Kigali. The guide was happy to drop me where I wanted, but seeing as my flight wasn't until 10:30 pm, I figured a quick lunch and beer was in order. That was until I realized that I better get a move on to the airport around 7 pm.
I've taken many modes of transport to an airport, but this is my first time riding a motorbike to the airport 🤣.


Arriving at Kigali, I found the airport to be like a barren wasteland. Most of the flights out of Kigali don't tend to leave around 7 pm, and thus, the airport reflected that. Unfortunately, the agent informed me that check-in would open at 7:45 pm for the 10:30 pm departure, but I could go wait across the street until then.
And that I did, watching this beautiful sunset. Reminds me of The French Polynesia.



Check In
Soon enough, it was time to head back to the airport and check in. Heading up to the counter, I inquired about the cost of an upgrade. 350$ for an upgrade to business class on a 3.5-hour flight? A little bit over the top, considering the cabin was empty…
Boarding pass printed, I headed upstairs to immigration and security. Needless to say, there was still not a single soul in sight, which was surprising.







Kigali Airport
The Kigali airport is quite a small airport. There is one restaurant located in the back, a smoking booth, which is 10$ for 30 minutes, and a few gate areas to relax in. RwandAir does operate a flagship lounge, but as I was not flying business class, I settled on a chicken and chips at the restaurant. Combined with a beer, a delicious meal all around!


Boarding
Due to a late inbound aircraft, boarding was slightly delayed.
At the gate area is a desk with a gate agent who is happy to help with any requests. As I was still feeling under the weather for some odd reason (perhaps run down), I wondered if he had any empty rows. Sure enough, he found an empty exit row for me! What a lovely guy!

By 10:10 pm, boarding has started for the hop down to JNB. I believe that most if not all, gates at Kigali are remote stands (at least from what I saw). It was a short time before we got to the plane, and then we laid eyes on this magnificent 737-800 (it was originally scheduled to be a -700).



The Seat/Cabin
Stepping onboard, passengers were warmly greeted by a couple of flight attendants.
The cabin on this RwandAir 737-800 is laid out with four rows of business class in a 2-2 configuration totaling 16 seats. While they do look comfortable and are stocked with plenty of amenities, I don't think it is worth the upgrade cost.



Heading past the free-flowing champagne cabin, the elegant blue colors filled the economy cabin. The economy cabin is laid out in the traditional 3-3 configuration, with a total of 138 seats. A couple of small notes:
the pitch was relatively good, better than the Ethiopian 737
there was a little legrest located at each seat, which is rare to find in Y
there were no seatback televisions.
The exit rows provided even more legroom, but as it turned out, a couple sat next to me. So, I mentioned to the flight crew that I had a cold and asked if they had an open row. Back in row 24, they were happy to accommodate me.









The Flight
By 10:40 pm, boarding was wrapped up, and we were just about ready to get on our way (or so we thought). The captain came on to welcome passengers onboard and proceeded to explain that there would be a small delay in sorting out a technical problem. Fantastic.
By 11:00 pm local time, we had backtracked down the runway and were wheels up to Johannesburg.



Unfortunately, this was the extent to which I experienced the RwandAir experience. Supposedly, the food and wifi offerings on their short-haul routes are relatively good. However, seeing as we took off at 11 pm and didn't land until 2:45 am, the only thing on my mind was sleep. Whoever invented this flight schedule, hmmm…
We touched down 20 minutes behind schedule into an empty Johannesburg. I guess there is one positive aspect to arriving so late at night 😅.



Pulling up to JNB

Immigration was cleared in no time, and with no bags to check, I was off to the Uber pickup area within 10 minutes. Not bad at all.



Due to being asleep for the meals, I will give it a 7/10 on my ratings. However, I look forward to adjusting that the next time I fly.
Looks like a solid short haul product. Shame you didn't get the meal, that would be interesting to see as well
We aren't going to get a FR on their A330 are we?
Hi VM, thanks for your comment!
Definitely is a solid hard product. My apologies on the meal I tried to stay awake since it would have been nice to see, but I was sadly shattered.
That was the plan, I was supposed to fly it but then plans changed. Hope to bring another report of it to FR.
Thanks for stopping by 🙂. Have a nice day!
Fair enough, timings were brutal. At least you could get pictures of the cabin. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this flight report. Wha was your overall impression about Rwanda?
Hi Bldavid, hope you are doing well.
I liked Rwanda a lot actually. Especially the countryside on the way out towards the DRC. Kigali is quite the difference to most African capitals, modern roads in most places and very clean. The people are lovely. Have you been yet?
Thanks. Yes, I've been there, and although for a short time, I liked it. I'm also planning to go to neighbouring Burundi.
Interesting. Heard good things about Burundi. Where are you heading in Burundi?
If you like snakes, apparently there is a place where you can hold a black mamba there 😟.
Not sure yet where exactly in Burundi.
Holding a balck mamba? I'm not sure :)
If you can, go to the Nile River source at Rutovu in Bururi Province and to the Nyakazu (or German) Fault near Tanzania.
Cool to see a Rwandair review! I don't blame you for not staying awake for the meal, that it a brutal schedule! A 23h00 departure on a short sub-4h redeye, yikes! The Business cabin looks super spacious for a 737.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Kevin, thanks for your comment.
The business class did look very spacious which falls right in line with Air Senegals narrow bodies as well. Would love to see if this is the norm across Africa, as Egypt Air also has very decent legroom (not as much but still)
Yeah, that flight time is truly brutal.
Thank for stopping by!
Nice report! For sure I have to catch up on my delay on your excellent serie 😉!
Since you went to Bukavu (unique experience to see gorillas - well done), what was the price difference between flying from Cyangugu - Kamembe airport (KME) across the border with RwandAir (and avoiding that long drive) and Kigali?
Interesting info! Was it located inside a lounge or near the shops/eatery?
Thanks for sharing!
Hi East African, thanks for your comments (sorry for the late response).
Interesting that you bring up KME, I didn’t even know there was an airport near the border. In hindsight, I should have driven one way to see the outskirts of Rwanda and flown back (to review both). My tour price was all inclusive for around (1700$) (almost the same price as just the gorillas in Rwanda) but that included the drive as well. I’m guessing the driver would have had to pick me up at the airport closer to the border anyways and I would have had to pay for gas.
The smoking booth was right by the restaurant! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, and have a nice day!