Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) has announced it will launch new flights from Doha Hamad International to Gaborone in Botswana on October 27, 2019.
The carrier said in a press release that it will operate the route 3x weekly as an add-on sector to its 14x weekly Doha Hamad International-Johannesburg O.R. Tambo flight using an A350-900. Qatar Airways has no 5th Freedom rights on the Johannesburg-Gaborone and v.v sectors.
The announcement marks the first time that the Botswanan capital has seen intercontinental passenger flights since British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) ended its service back in the 1990s. According to the ch-aviation capacities module, Gaborone currently sees 118 weekly scheduled departures with 80 of them to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo. In terms of international hub connectivity, Gaborone also has scheduled flights to Addis Ababa International and Cape Town International.
Since 2016, Qatar Airways has had a codeshare agreement with Air Botswana (BP, Gaborone) covering the latter carrier's routes from Johannesburg to Gaborone, Francistown, and Maun.
