Botswana’s aviation industry is rebounding post the Covid pandemic; this is according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB) statistics. Botswana is a major diamond producer and a major tourism destination.
The CAAB registered 784,832 passengers across the six major airports from April 2023 to March 2024, showing an average annual growth rate of 12.9%. Cargo volumes accounted for the period were 1,484,688.10 kgs, with a record 23 dedicated cargo charter flights.
These latest recordings reveal that air traffic has surpassed an estimated 80% pre-pandemic levels, and CAAB predicts full recovery by the end of the 2024/25 financial year.
Domestic scheduled services are operated by Air Botswana, flying from Gaborone to the second city Francistown, Maun, and the tourism capital Kasane, the popular gateway to the Okavango Delta. In the 2023/24 financial year, the domestic market contributed 77.8% of the total traffic, thus shaping the overall trend.
In terms of domestic airports, the statistics showed that Maun Airport was the busiest in terms of aircraft movements and handled a total of 46,856 aircraft. Kasane Airport was the second busiest airport with a record of 11,127, surpassing Sir Seretse Khama International Airport, which accounted for 10,548 movements. The remaining airports made minimal contributions, accounting for 2.4% of the overall traffic recorded in the year.
Regarding passenger numbers, Sir Seretse Khama International Airport accommodated the most, with an overall market share of 46.7%, followed by Maun with a contribution of 36.8%, whilst Kasane came third with 13.4%.
Selebi Phikwe Airport is located about 380 km north-northeast of Gaborone and about 11 km south-southwest of Selebi Phikwe town.
Kasane International Airport is located 4 km south of Kasane town in the Chobe District, about 1,000 km north of Gaborone. The airport is open to both domestic and international traffic and is situated near Botswana’s borders with Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It provides access to Chobe National Park, the Victoria Falls, and Katima Mulilo town in Namibia.
P. G. Matante International Airport is located about 450 km north-northeast of Gaborone and about 2.4 km west of Francistown City.
Maun International Airport is located within Maun Town boundaries, in the northwest, and is a base for tourist activities in the Okavango area and other parts of the northwest district.
Botswana’s main international airport, Sir Seretse Khama International Airport, is located about 10 km north of the city of Gaborone.
With reference to the international market, most traffic is scheduled movements from airlines that made up 61.5% of the total segment. On the domestic side, airlines contributed only 6.6%, and the majority went to the non-scheduled types of movements from charter flights that accounted for 84.2%.
Airlines that service Botswana include Air Botswana, Ethiopian Airlines, CemAir, Fastjet Zimbabwe, Mack Air, and SA Airlink.
