The first phase of the redesigned airport will handle seven million passengers annually. Credit: Twitter: Rwanda Development Board/ @RDBrwanda.

The Rwanda Development Board has announced that Qatar Airways will acquire a 60% stake in the country’s new $1.3bn international airport.

The Rwanda Development Board announced the news via its official Twitter handle.

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The board tweeted: “The @RwandaGov and @qatarairways today signed an investment partnership for Rwanda’s new international airport. The partnership features three agreements to build, own and operate the state-of-the-art facility.”

The new airport in Bugesera is currently being redesigned to handle seven million passengers on an annual basis. The second phase, expected to open by 2032, will increase the annual passenger handling capacity to 14 million.

The board added: “The agreements signed today mark a key milestone in the development of Rwanda’s vibrant aviation sector, in the context of the excellent bilateral relationship between Qatar and Rwanda.”

In 2017, Rwandan President Paul Kagame broke ground on the new $818m Bugesera International Airport (BIA).

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The new airport is being built to manage the country’s rising air traffic, as well as improve intra-African travel, investment and business.

The airport is being constructed by Mota-Engil Engenharia e Construcao Africa, the African branch of a Portuguese construction firm.

Mota-Engil’s scope of work includes the financing, building and operations of the airport for a 25 year period, under a concession agreement that has an option to be extended by 15 more years.

Global environmental consultancy Ramboll Environ carried out an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) on the new airport.

The consultancy prepared a resettlement action plan for the new airport on behalf of Bugesera Airport Company (BAC).

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