Rwandair's First B737-800NG Now in Production Line

The first of two ordered Boeing 737-800’s, due to join the RwandAir fleet in a couple of weeks, is now on the production line in Seattle, where the hull arrived yesterday from Kansas City.

 The aircraft according to the airline’s CEO John Mirenge, is due for delivery on August 25th and a second aircraft then at a yet to be disclosed date in September. A number of RwandAir staff are at present also undergoing training in maintenance procedures at Boeing while the pilots selected to fly the new ‘birds’ are taking their type conversion courses and are undergoing simulator training to be ready to fly the new aircraft home to ‘The Land of a Thousand Hills’ and deliver it to a proud nation.
RwandAir is the African launch customer for the new ‘Sky Interior’ look which Boeing is now starting to deliver to customers around the world and the airline’s passengers will be the first to experience this new inflight experience on the continent. 

The final production stage is expected to last for 11 days after which the aircraft will undergo pre-delivery testing of all systems and conduct a series of test flights before being handed over to RwandAir in August.

The airplane will be handed over to Rwandair on 25 August 2011. Some nine Rwandans have already concluded their maintenance training in the USA, pilots familiarization on the Boeing 737 – 800 is on-going and the airline expects to send their cabin crew for training on the same aircraft shortly.  RwandAir is  the first airline in Africa to order and receive the Boeing 737–800 with the Sky Interior Concept.