Air Botswana sets to fly with government assistance

…expects new aircraft

Despite passing through lots of challenges, Air Botswana is set to hit the skies again and better this time with financial assistance from the Botswana government.

Excited at the development, Lulu, CEO, Air Botswana, at the recently-concluded ITB Berlin in Germany, noted that the airline is set to fly more across Africa with more equipment expected soon to enable it return to earlier routes and expand to new destinations in Africa.

Read also: Botswana pushes tourism boundaries beyond Africa

“We are on a new path now that the government has funded us to increase our aircraft and that means we are going to expand our routes,” Lulu said.

She said further that the airline would be acquiring Embraer aircraft to enable it to increase its footprint in Africa.

Speaking on the destinations of the airlines, she said, “We are bringing back the Johannesburg-Marunda route. We are also connecting Cape Town with Marunda direct and we are looking at Windhoek-Maraunda direct flight”.

Of course, the new CEO declared her vision, which she said stands on three pillars of being financially sustainable, excellent service delivery and consistency in safety standards.

She also described ITB Berlin as the biggest global travel expo and was excited that Botswana latched onto the expo’s platform to meet and connect with the global tourism fraternity.

“The experience has been breathtaking and quite exhilarating. The reason we are here at ITB is that we are in the business of moving people and goods from point A to point B.

“Tourism is enabled by flying and by driving. So, we are a key stakeholder in enabling tourism and as ITB, being the biggest tourism fair in the world, it is appropriate we are here,” she said.

She also noted that efforts are being made to encourage domestic tourism in the country, while equally efforts are made to woo global tourists to the country.