RwandAir

RwandAir is the flag carrier of Rwanda, flying from Kigali International Airport with a fleet of Boeing 737s and 787 Dreamliners plus Bombardier CRJ900s and De Havilland Dash 8s across Africa and on to Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It has grown rapidly as Rwanda has positioned Kigali as a regional connecting hub.

Flying for RwandAir

RwandAir launched a Cadet Pilot Program aimed at producing 20 pilots over two years, and the response showed how scarce sponsored African training places are — close to 2,000 people applied. Eligibility is tight: applicants must be Rwandan citizens aged between 18 and 24 who performed strongly in physics, chemistry and mathematics or an equivalent secondary school combination. The programme covers ground school and simulator training, supervised flight hours to a commercial pilot licence, and leadership and soft skills training, with cadets expected to train at Akagera Aviation Academy.

Applications go exclusively through the airline's e-recruitment portal in PDF format, with an application letter to the Chief HR and Administration Officer, a CV, identity and academic documents and three referees. At roughly 2,000 applicants for 20 places, the academic filter and the aptitude assessment behind it are doing extraordinarily heavy work — this is among the most competitive ratios of any scheme in this directory.