10 Jul 2023

 Air Botswana has been urged to enhance service delivery to protect its reputation and integrity. 

Some North West District councillors made the call when responding to a presentation on the airline mandate and strategic direction and activities. 

They expressed concern about the airline delays, which they said caused inconveniences to businesses and other travellers. 

They also noted that failure to communicate the cause of the delays to passengers exacerbated the situation. 

“While we appreciate efforts in place, I urge you to do more because some travellers have lost hope on the airline as far as reliability is concerned, hence they resorted to the use of night buses,” said Cllr Lekonne Masoko of Bomadi ward in Maun. 

He said the majority of safari companies operating in Maun took a decision to work closely with Air Link because of its reliability. In the tourism industry, he said, time and reliability were key indicators for airlines. 

He added that communication was also of paramount importance. 

He urged the national airline to consider increasing their fleet because they were competing with other airlines, adding that the current aircraft were slow and noisy while other companies used faster jets. Cllr Masoko said acquiring new aircraft would help the airline to regain passenger confidence and trust, adding that excellent service was critical for the growth of the business. 

Cllr Gakologelwang Bethia of Thamalakane North complained about high prices of the national airline and wished management could revisit them. Some people, she said, had resorted to using other airlines such as Air Link because they were affordable. 

Cllr Luke Motlaleselelo of Bojanala advised the company to consider transforming the Maun office, saying it was not appealing. 

In other countries, he said, airline offices were situated at airports, something that was attractive. 

Earlier on, Air Botswana project and strategy manager, Mr Gabriel Malikongwa, admitted that of late the airline had been experiencing operational challenges resulting in several flight disruptions. 

He said this had inconvenienced passengers, but appreciated that the situation had since improved as the airline had achieved a schedule integrity of 90 per cent from January to May. 

Mr Malikongwa said there were several issues that could lead to flight delays, but noted that most of them were due to birds’ strikes. 

Also, he said, inspection, a pilot may engage engineers or technicians to attend to faults detected as safety was their number one priority. 

He said Air Botswana was committed to providing air transport service, and had continuously increased the level of operations to match growing demand, noting that the airline mission was to be a safe, reliable, customer centric and financially sustainable airline that supported the growth of tourism, trade and other economic sectors in Botswana. 

Furthermore, he said reports had shown that more than three million tourists were coming to Botswana annually and noted that it was their dream to have big aircraft such as Boeing 737 flying direct from Dubai to Maun. 

“We want Maun to be a hub for aviation and currently Johannesburg-Maun flights are also available to support tourism and plans are underway to intensify efforts to grow the route. We believe the development could open job opportunities for locals,” he added. 

Mr Malikongwa noted that they were in the process of acquiring more aircraft to improve service delivery. 

Currently, he said, they were operating with three aircraft while waiting for the World Bank to recommend which companies they could collaborate with. 

Councillors were informed that the re-introduction of Gaborone–Cape Town as well as Gaborone-Harare-Lusaka routes had also contributed to business growth. 

They learnt that frequency on these routes would be increased to four flights per week during the 2023/24 financial year. 

They were also informed that Johannesburg–Francistown was planned to be re-introduced during the 2023/24 financial year. 

Mr Malikongwa also noted that Air Botswana and Debswana were currently planning for the introduction of Gaborone–Orapa– Kasane route. 

He told the house that Air Botswana operated an efficient cargo service at its cargo terminal at Sir Seretse Khama International Air Port and urged them to fully use the service for their convenience. 

Other services offered by the airline included air charters and special rates for passengers travelling in a group, among others. Ends