Dozens of households in Bugesera District in the eastern province of Rwanda are yet to be expropriated to pave way for the construction of the Bugesera International Airport, which will be the second in the country.
Bugesera Airport will be located in southeastern Rwanda, in Bugesera District, near the town of Nyamata. This location is approximately 24 kilometres and will be situated at an altitude of 1,400 metres
With a plan of borrowing bonds amounting funds, the Government of Rwanda believes that this is a viable project that needs a little bit of financial muscle to implement.
The estimated $650 million worth Bugesera International Airport had initially been scheduled for completion in 2016 but construction is yet to begin. However, expropriation of land where the airport will be located is ongoing.
Recently, the government announced a $1 billion bond that will be used for the construction of the airport and finance key energy infrastructures.
The proposed airport in Bugesera is expected to handle more than three million passengers a year by 2030, with at least 450 serviced in an hour.
It is meant to decongest Kigali International Airport (KIA) in Kigali City, which is operating beyond its capacity of 300,000 passengers a year but is currently also undergoing major expansion and rehabilitation to accommodate a capacity of 1.5 million passengers per year, which is triple the current capacity.
The location Bugesera airport, about 30 minutes’ drive from Kigali, is anticipated to be of additional value to the ambitions of Kigali’s goal to become a regional conference and tourism hub, passengers, many of them in transit, would require spacious lounges and holding areas.
Rwandan governments is considering contracting the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) for the construction of the project, while the British accounting firm Pricewaterhousecoopers, has been retained to oversee the financing of the new airport.
With the anticipated coming of Bugesera airport Rwanda will now be in position to handle more airline services in addition to the already existing flyers in the country.
Rwanda has also been of interest to many foreign airlines with new entrants like Turkish airlines, Qatar and FlyDubai- the latest of all, entering the market in the last two year.
Bugesera International Airport will become Rwanda’s largest International Airport, serving commercial flights destined to and from the greater Kigali metropolitan area. The airport has been anxiously awaited by Rwanda’s aviation fraternity, in particular RwandAir, whose expansion drive depends largely on the new airport coming in a few years’ time.
In terms of regional competitiveness, Rwanda will also be joining other East African countries seeking to upgrade their airline infrastructure to rival Africa’s key hubs like Ethiopia and South Africa.
East African governments strapped for cash, they are likely to increase airport fees as they look for financing, a factor that would reduce the competitiveness of regional carriers by hiking their fares.
