1st May 2023
MAUN – South African privately owned airline, CemAir, will take to the local skies again within the next week. This emerged in Maun, where tour operators gathered for the annual Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana (HATAB) conference from 20 – 21st April 2023.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB) told tour operators that CemAir has been granted permission to fly into Maun international airport from 01 May 2023, “with a plan to also fly into SSKIA later in the year”.
The return to local skies comes after the South African airline said in 2022 that it is looking to expand its regional operations with the introduction of several new routes on the continent.
Headquartered at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport, CemAir increased its fleet size by more than 20% in the first half of 2022. The airline operated Air Botswana’s Gaborone-Cape Town route on a wet lease between February 2017 and January 2018.
Its resumption of Botswana routes also follows the upgrade and refurbishment of Maun International Airport, which included an extension of the runway to 3,7km, allowing it to accommodate aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.
“Prior to the terminal building expansion, construction works on the runway extension and the Air Traffic Control Tower & Technical Building Block were completed in August 2012 and January 2016, respectively”, said Isaac Mabote – CAAB’s Director of Airport Services at the just ended HATAB conference.
Mabote said the new Maun airport terminal building now processes 270 passengers per hour against the previous 70. Maun Airport is regarded as one of the busiest airports in the southern African region, with the latest official statistics showing 200 929 passenger movements between January and October 2022.
“These figures demonstrate that we do indeed require top-notch airport facilities to strengthen our competitive advantage in the global economy,”said Mabote.
Apart from CemAir, the CAAB says it is in talks with at least one long-haul airliner to have started operations in local skies by the end of 2023/4 under its airline attraction strategies.
“We are actively courting both Emirates and Qatar Airlines. Emirates was supposed to start flights to Gaborone on June 1, 2020 however, the COVID-19 outbreak prevented this from happening. On the other hand, Qatar indefinitely suspended its operations due to Covid-19,” said Mabote.
Source: https://www.sundaystandard.info/cemair-returns-to-botswana-skies-next-month/
