Air Botswana dolls up for suitors

MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer | Friday September 3, 2010 00:00

 

Government has attempted to privatise Air Botswana thrice, beginning with the Comair bid in 2003, then the Airlink attempt in 2006 and the failed bid to engage a management company in 2008.

Between these years, Air Botswana's finances have dipped, recording losses of up to P300 million and dulling the carrier's lustre to potential investors. Air Botswana recorded a loss of P89 million for the financial year 2008/09.

On Wednesday, Transport and Communications Minister Frank Ramsden told BusinessWeek that when spruced up, Air Botswana would be an attractive proposition for renewed privatisation efforts.

'There have been three attempts, and all these have failed,' said Ramsden in an interview. 'That's why in the Budget, (Finance Minister, Kenneth) Matambo said Air Botswana must be helped.'

'Government has not rescinded on privatisation. We have said let's improve it so that when we revisit the privatisation issue, people will want to buy it and not make offers as though it is a liability to government.

'It appears some offers viewed it as a liability, but this is a national asset and we cannot let it go for a song.'Ramsden said the plan was to re-fleet Air Botswana through the purchase of at least two aircraft, the recruitment of more pilots and the training of strategic staff.

'With the aircraft and the pilots, the flights are more regular,' he said. 'Even when aircraft are grounded, it should not be because there are inadequate pilots. We are recruiting the relevant people to support our revamping of the airline.'As we speak, we are talking to other airlines to come and fly in Botswana. Therefore, we need trained pilots and personnel who will be able to attend to these international passengers with international best practice.'

Ramsden said talks were underway to secure service from leading airlines such as Ethiopian Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways. Service to and from Botswana by the three carriers will leverage on the upgraded Sir Seretse Khama International Airport, which can handle up to 970 passengers per hour at peak and accommodate large volume aircraft.

The minister revealed that flights between these and other destinations are premised on Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASAs) which, while being agreements of intent, may or may not be developed into actual flights.

'Turning BASAs into flights is dependent on the service providers,' Ramsden said. 'It is about how interested they are in coming to Botswana and appreciating what we have.

'I talked to the people from Ethiopian Airlines at the aviation conference this week and asked them to give us a timeline about when they would want to start flying in Botswana.

'I invited them to see what we have on the ground and I hope they will come, see and start flying. We are also talking to Singapore and Qatar, but nothing is concrete.'

Botswana currently has BASAs with Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Of these, existing services include Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Namibia still operates a 19-seater flight to Maun en route to Zimbabwe. Previous flights between Gaborone and Windhoek proved expensive and were discontinued.

'It must be understood that negotiations with these airlines do not mean final agreement,' said Minister Ramsden. 'Some may say they are not interested because they know we have a small population and we don't compare to South Africa.

However, we are investing heavily in aviation facilities and we cannot have them idle.'

Current aviation investment includes Phase Two of the P433-million expansion of Sir Seretse Khama International Airport and the upgrading of Francistown, Maun and Kasane airports.