Air Botswana keen to join SAA-KQ pan-African alliance

Air Botswana's E170 returns to service after safety alert

Air Botswana (BP, Gaborone) has announced the reinstatement into commercial service of its ERJ 170-100LR, A2-ABM (msn 17000318), saying that safety inspections ordered by the local regulator had "resulted in zero findings".

"In order to allay the safety concerns raised about the aircraft, it is worth noting that inspections carried out resulted in zero findings and that the aircraft is fit for commercial operation as of today, May 27. The authority has been appraised of the successful completion of the inspections carried out, and they have since reinstated the Certificate of Airworthiness of the aircraft," the national carrier said in a statement.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB) had announced in a statement on May 25 that it had grounded the jet and suspended its Certificate of Worthiness until Air Botswana satisfactorily carried out all inspections and tasks recommended by Embraer and the regulator and it was deemed fit for release into service. "The grounding was necessitated by the regulator's concerns over a series of recurring problems surrounding the aircraft," it had...

Editorial Comment: Updated with E170 returning to commercial service on May 27. - 27.05.2022 - 15:15 UTC

Framework for Air Botswana privatisation imminent - minister

Legislation for the privatisation of Air Botswana (BP, Gaborone) is expected to be promulgated this month, according to Minister of Transport and Communications Thulaganyo Segokgo.

Presenting his ministry's recurrent and development budget for the 2022/23 Financial Year to the Parliamentary Committee of Supply on March 21, he said: "Promulgation of the Transition Act is expected to be initiated from April 2022".

He said privatisation models such as a strategic equity partner or investor/s and a public-private partnership (PPP) model were being explored before expressions of interest would be invited. The state-owned airline is currently conducting benchmarking exercises with other national airlines that have been privatised, he said.

In the meantime, Air Botswana is following a three-year strategic recovery plan (2021-2024), focusing on diversifying its revenue streams and being more cargo-driven.

The airline has negotiated special prorate agreements (SPA) with unnamed long-haul operators from identified source markets, including China, India, Dubai, Europe, Singapore, Indonesia, and South Africa. General sales and services agents (GSSA) have been appointed in China, India, Dubai, Germany (covering the European region),...

South Africa's Africa Charter Airline resumes freighter ops

South African firm eyes Air Botswana stake - report