Air Botswana (BP, Gaborone) has extended the deadline for the sale of its last remaining ATR42-500, A2-ABN (msn 507), following an unsuccessful attempt to sell the turboprop in 2022.

The latest tender closing date was shifted from April 25 to May 7. The 28.5-year-old company-owned aircraft has been stored at Gaborone since June 21, 2019. It is the last of five ATR42-500s once operated by the airline.

ch-aviation has reached out to Air Botswana for comment.

The state-owned carrier also owns two ATR72-600s, which operate regionally from Gaborone to South Africa (Johannesburg O.R. Tambo and Cape Town International), Zimbabwe (Harare International), and Zambia (Lusaka).

CEO Lulu Ratsebotsa previously told ch-aviation the airline would retain the two ATR72s and planned to interchange them with new Embraer fleet additions to maximise route-specific capacity.

Adding Embraer jets is part of the airline's broader modernisation strategy, she said. Still, Air Botswana's one E170 and one E175 remain grounded, while two E145s purchased by the Botswanan state have been placed on the air operator's certificate (AOC) of Westair Aviation (WAA, Windhoek Eros) and are being wet-leased back from the Namibian ACMI/charter specialist. This temporary arrangement is needed because the Batswana national carrier does not yet have the certified maintenance capabilities or the necessary approval on its AOC for this aircraft type.