Rwanda has been added to the travel corridor lists for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, according to a statement from the UK Government.

“With direct flights from London to Kigali with RwandAir, it is now possible to travel freely between the UK and Rwanda,” said Chris Mears, CEO of the African Travel & Tourism Association (ATTA), a member-driven trade association that promotes tourism to Africa from all corners of the world.

“There is a fuel stop in Brussels, but as travellers remain on the plane, there will be no need to quarantine on return to the UK, should Brussels not have an air bridge at time of travel.”

According to the latest Visit Rwanda statistics, around 16 000 UK travellers visited the country in 2018 but projections were that numbers were on the rise as interest from British visitors was on the rise.

The UK government has said it will take decisive action if necessary to contain the virus, including removing countries from the travel corridor list rapidly if the public health risk of people returning from a particular country without self-isolating becomes too high.

Kigali International Airport is currently open although land borders remain closed except to returning Rwandan citizens and legal residents.

All arrivals in Rwanda must present a negative COVID-19 PCR test with the result taken within 120 hours of departure.

Travellers will then be required to quarantine at a designated hotel for 24 hours whilst awaiting results of a second COVID-19 test, conducted on arrival.