Rwandair Diverts Flights to Entebbe Airport

Rwanda’s national carrier, Rwandair, has diverted flights to Entebbe International Airport due to poor weather, Chimp Corps report.

“Due to poor visibility at Kigali International Airport, some of our flights were diverted to Entebbe International Airport,” Rwandair said in a statement on Wednesday night.

Poor visibility has caused a diversion of flights to Entebbe

“As a result, a number of flights will be delayed this morning. We apologize for all inconveniences caused,” the statement added.

The development underscores the need for Rwanda to maintain good relations with Uganda.

Apart from Entebbe, the nearest international airport to rescue Rwandair would have been Melchior Ndadaye International Airport in Bujumbura but Kigali’s relations with Burundi are almost non-existent.

This is not the first time Rwandair is diverting flights to Entebbe due to poor visibility at Kigali International Airport.

On October 11, 2018, Rwandair said, “due to bad weather at the Kigali International Airport, flight WB305 from Dubai has been diverted to Entebbe until the weather improves on Kigali.”

The airline further said that would lead to flight schedule disruption.

Two months later in December 2018, more flights were diverted to Entebbe due to “poor visibility.”

Rwanda usually faces severe rainstorms every October, triggering floods in different parts of the country including the capital Kigali.

On October 15, 2019, Rwandan Minister of Emergency Management Germaine Kamayirise urged the public to move from high risk areas and improve drainage systems to mitigate the impact of heavy rains and floods.

Rwanda’s housing authority says 35,000 people out of 1.6 million residents of Kigali reside in high risk areas.

According the ministry’s disaster assessment report released recently, 70 people were killed and 117 others injured in natural disasters in the last nine months due to heavy rains that have battered the country.