Aviation bears potential as �next economic frontier�

Boniface Keakabetse | Wednesday October 26, 2016 16:34

 

Wilderness Air general manager, Alex Henderson said this when giving a keynote address at the recently held Aviation Pitso.

“To achieve that, we need to think outside the cockpit. We must go where nobody has ever gone before,” Henderson said.

“We must try new plans and programmes, start exploring and exploiting new areas such as air cargo and see if we cannot turn some of our airports into commodity or service-specific sub-hubs.”

He said in line with this thinking, Maun International Airport (MIA) and Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (SSKIA) should be turned into spokes in the near future. Spokes are a system of air transportation by which local flights carry passengers to one major hub where they board long distance or other local flights.

He said while the idea should be the ultimate transformation of MIA and SSKIA into hubs, in the meantime, efforts should be on supporting and feeding the OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) regional hub in South Africa.

Henderson stated that with proper planning ORTIA has transformed overnight to become the Continental No. One Hub.

However, Henderson advised: “ORTIA is definitely a hub in as far as passenger service is concerned, but I still believe that with proper planning and strategising with some other airports in the region the same could be achieved for Botswana airports”.

“There are other airports in the region, which are doing very well or are upcoming, especially our neighbouring countries such as Livingstone in Zambia and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, though the latter is perhaps not so much thriving due to the situation in that country at the moment,” he stated.

The 2016 Pitso, was held under the theme ‘Celebrating Aviation: The Next Economic Frontier’. Minister of Transport, and Communications, Kitso Mokaila noted that aviation in Botswana is 97-years-old, not 50 years. 

He said the history began with the construction of an aerodrome in Palapye measuring 600 by 600 yards. Subsequently, temporary aerodromes were constructed in Serowe, Francistown and Artesia at which the flying machines landed during the years.

From thenceforth, aviation continued to grow with airfields built in other parts of the country including Gaborone.

Mokaila noted that one of the darkest clouds hanging over Botswana was the Significant Safety Concerns (SSCs), which had the potential to drag back the achievements that were made over the past 50 years.

Mokaila noted that on April 10, 2013, a team of auditors from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) pronounced the possibility of two SSCs. 

This was the beginning of a nightmare for the industry because failure to resolve those two SSCs would attract a ban from the European Union, or to put it loosely blacklisting.

 “I stand here proud and tall and would like to announce that on December 15, 2015 both the two SSCs were removed from the list. Let me take this opportune moment to congratulate all of you for the hard work that culminated the rigorous assignment,” Mokaila said.