RwandAir and Qatar Airways are constructing a mega airport in Kigali, Rwanda, that is expected to rival the Bore International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This international airport is expected to open sometime between 2027 and 2028.

The project was first announced by Qatar Airways in 2019 and at the time, it was estimated to be worth $1.3 billion and now could take up to $2 billion. . “Construction is already in progress. We’re about to finalize the horizontal works and move to the vertical. We’re looking at 2027 and 2028 in terms of the airport being operational,” RwandAir CEO Yvonne Manzi Makolo said.

In the new airport, Manzi Makolo said that Qatar Airways will be the majority shareholder with a 60 per cent stake. The airport is being built south of the capital Kigali in the Bugesera District.

She further revealed that Qatar Airways is looking at taking 49 per cent of RwandaAir. She spoke on the sidelines of the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.

DP Gachagua declared rightful owner of Sh. 1.5 billion disputed JKIA land

“There has been a bit of delay due to redesign. Initially, it was a much smaller airport but when Qatar came in there was a whole redesign process,” she said. She spoke hot on the heels of the announcement by RwandAir that it was expanding its daily flights to London from Kigali.

In the original plan, the airport, when complete was to be expected to have the capacity to handle 14 million visitors annually.

At the time, this was double the current capacity that is handled by the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). At the same time, the new facility will boast a 130,000-square-meter main terminal building.