Air Botswana
| Air Botswana | |
|---|---|
|
|
| IATA code : | BP |
| ICAO code : | BOT |
| Call sign : | BOTSWANA |
| Founding: | 1972 |
| Seat: |
Gaborone , Botswana
|
| Home airport : | Gaborone airport |
| Company form: | State company |
| IATA prefix code : | 636 |
| Number of employees: | about 300 |
| Frequent Flyer Program : | Teemane Club |
| Fleet size: | 4 (+ 1 order) |
| Aims: | National and international |
| Website: | www.airbotswana.co.bw |
Air Botswana is the national airline of Botswana , based in Gaborone and based at Gaborone Airport .
history
Air Botswana was founded in 1972 by decree of the then President Seretse Khama and began operations on August 1st of the same year with the Fokker F-27 and Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander . It is the successor company of the also state-owned Botswana Airways (1969–1972) or previously Botswana National Airways (1966–1969) and before that Bechuanaland National Airways .
From 1988 the fleet was modernized and Air Botswana added ATR 42 and BAe 146-100 to the fleet. The entire ATR fleet was destroyed in October 1999 after an airline pilot with one of these ATRs fell on the parked aircraft with suicidal intent . Flight operations could be maintained with leased aircraft - at the end of 1999 three ATR 42s were purchased again. In 2009 two new ATR 72-500 were acquired for 30 million euros .
In December 2008, the airline allegedly lost its membership of the International Air Transport Association due to a lack of security clearance . By the end of 2010, however, after security had been increased, it could be reactivated.
However, in October 2010 a newspaper from Botswana reported that Air Botswana had withdrawn membership. The airline should be run down in order to be able to privatize it and sell it cheaply.
Between 2010 and 2013 Air Botswana generated a loss of around 220 million pula .
Destinations
Air Botswana serves (as of March 2018) six destinations in Botswana and South Africa .
fleet
.jpg)
As of March 2020, the Air Botswana fleet consists of four aircraft with an average age of 9.5 years:
| Aircraft type | number | ordered | Remarks | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 42-500 | 1 | 47 | ||
| ATR 72-600 | 2 | Delivery November / December 2018 | 70 | |
| Embraer 170LR | 1 | 1 | first machine delivered January 2019, previous owner: Saudi Aramco Aviation |
|
| total | 4th | 1 |
In the past, Air Botswana operated ATR 42-300 , ATR 72-500 , Douglas DC-3 , McDonnell Douglas MD-83 , Vickers Viscount , Hawker Siddeley HS 748 , Dornier Do 228 and BAe 146-100, among others .
privatization
In 2004, the Botswana government sought to privatize the state-owned enterprise. South African Airlink's only offer to privatize was rejected by the country's parliament in 2007. Further discussions with, among others, Aer Arann regarding a management contract for Air Botswana also remained fruitless in 2009.
Since February 2017 there have been renewed efforts to privatize or take over the routes and thus discontinue the airline. Wilderness Air , Ethiopian Airlines , South African Airways and Comair as well as the German InAvia Aviation Consultants applied for this by the end of May 2017 . Wilderness Air was named the preferred company on June 9, but withdrew its offer a few days later.
The airline has been in a period of upheaval since 2018 and is expanding its fleet with new aircraft. The government hopes this will give Air Botswana a better chance of being privatized.
Incidents
On 11 October 1999, a pilot of the crashed Air Botswana with a 42 ATR ( aircraft marks A2-ABB ) on the remaining two copies of the same type that on the tarmac of the airport Gaborone were parked. Before that he had circled around the airfield for about two hours and asked to be connected to President Festus Mogae , who was, however, abroad. The pilot, who was alone and unauthorized on board the machine, died . There were no other victims.
See also
Web links
- Website of Air Botswana (English)
Individual references, comments
- ↑ a b tourismupdate.co.za - Air Botswana grounds aircraft, Southern African Tourism Update, May 7, 2010 (English), accessed June 19, 2010
- ↑ mmegi.bw - AB resignation from IATA 'confidential', October 13, 2010 (English) accessed on January 20, 2011
- ^ Air Botswana. ch-aviation . Retrieved August 2, 2017.
- ^ Air Botswana Fleet Details and History. In: planespotters.net. Retrieved March 8, 2020 .
- ↑ Air Botswana adds two ATR72-600s to its fleet. African Aerospace, July 13, 2018.
- ↑ Air Botswana takes delivery of its first ATR 72-600. African Aerospace, November 5, 2018.
- ↑ Air Botswana set to add two EMB-170s. ch-aviation , September 10, 2018.
- ↑ airbotswana.co.bw - Wings for Development ( Memento of December 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (English) accessed on September 19, 2015
- ↑ AIR BOTSWANA UP FOR SALE, AGAIN. Sunday Standard, February 17, 2017.
- ↑ Wilderness Safaris submits EOI for Air Botswana. CH-Aviation, May 31, 2017.
- ↑ Wilderness Safaris named preferred Air Botswana bidder. CH-Aviation, June 9, 2017.
- ↑ Wilderness Safaris withdraws Air Botswana EOI. CH-Aviation, June 12, 2017.
- ^ Air Botswana to privatize. Aviator, March 13, 2018.
- ^ Accident report ATR 42 A2-ABB, Gaborone , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 12, 2018.