Breaking: DRC Blocks RwandAir Airspace

RwandAir’s flight operations will be hampered by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) official closure of its airspace to aircraft registered in Rwanda.

Even though regional officials mediated a ceasefire agreement, fighting between Congolese forces (FARDC) and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels is still going on.

According to Rwanda’s national airline, RwandAir, the company has been compelled to divert planes in order to avoid Congolese airspace.

“Affected flight paths have been rerouted by RwandAir due to the closure of DR Congo airspace to Rwandan-registered aircraft,” the airline said in a statement on Wednesday.

With the least amount of disturbance to our customers, we are striving to offer the safest and most effective options,” the airline continued.

RwandAir’s international and regional operations are anticipated to be severely disrupted by the closure, given that the airline mostly uses DRC airspace for its flights to Europe and Africa.

European flights (United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, Turkey) and African flights (Gabon, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Nigeria) are among those impacted.

Both operational effectiveness and ticket costs may be impacted if the airline is forced to use more expensive and time-consuming alternate routes.

According to aviation experts, the DRC’s action is a powerful political statement that could have an impact on Rwanda’s aviation sector economically. Increased fuel prices and longer flight durations may make it difficult for RwandAir to maintain competitive pricing.

Violating the Ceasefires

Airspace was shut down in response to new claims made by Kinshasa that Rwanda and its M23 allies had broken the truce mediated by the EAC-SADC summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on February 8.

On February 12, hours after the ceasefire was declared, Rwanda launched fresh military offensives, which the Congolese government denounced.

The statement said, “The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo wishes to draw the attention of the international community, and that of the SADC and EAC in particular, to the flagrant violation by Rwanda and its alternates of the M23 of the ceasefire decided by the Joint Summit of Heads of State and Government.”

On February 9 in North Kivu, Rwandan forces and M23 fighters bombarded FARDC strongholds, killing 14 persons, including civilians, according to Kinshasa.

On February 11, there were other reports of attacks in Thusi and Munanira in South Kivu, as well as in Kanyambi, Ndolama, and Tshulo in North Kivu.

Rwanda has not yet made a statement regarding these abuses.

Maltreatment

However, M23 rebels had previously charged Congolese soldiers with violating human rights, particularly in South Kivu’s Bukavu.

The Congolese army was allegedly bombing civilian villages with helicopters, according to the rebels, an allegation Kinshasa refuted.

If things became worse, the M23 rebels threatened to take the city away from Congolese authorities.

The Congolese government in response to the most recent ceasefire violations has called for an urgent meeting of regional military chiefs in the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to create a monitoring and verification system for ceasefire violations.