Société Nationale des Transports Aériens du Rwanda, or Air Rwanda as the airline was commonly known, was the national airline of Rwanda, with its base at Kigali International Airport in Kigali. The airline operated for 21 years and had to tone down its operations during the Rwandan genocide. In 1996 the airline was re branded and renamed to Rwanda Air which finally led to the formation of RwandAir in 2002.