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Air Botswana to lease out jets as financial pressures mount

Fighting to survive: Air Botswana has huge debts and is also struggling with operational issues PIC: MBONGENI MGUNI
Fighting to survive: Air Botswana has huge debts and is also struggling with operational issues PIC: MBONGENI MGUNI

Despite receiving a more than P300 million investment from government to buy jets, Air Botswana now says its six-aircraft fleet is larger than what it currently needs to run operations efficiently, warning that excess jets are draining the airline’s finances through insurance costs and expensive maintenance obligations.

Last year, Air Botswana welcomed the Embraer E175, in what the then-management labelled as a push for regional expansion with the opening of new routes such as Gaborone-Cape Town. Now the airline says it will lease out the jet alongside the Embraer E170 to other airlines to generate short-term revenue and ease off financial pressures.

The newly appointed General Manager of Air Botswana, Bao Mosinyi, appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Statutory Bodies and State-Owned Enterprises, said the airline runs a two-flight schedule, which at most needs three aircraft as opposed to the six that the airline currently has.

Editor's Comment
Academic cheating must be rooted out

If the allegations are proved, the educator in question stole not only an exam but also the future of honest students who studied hard.The Ministry of Higher Education acted correctly by suspending the Special Education paper at both Tlokweng and Serowe colleges, as reported elsewhere in this edition.Yet stopping one examination is a short-term fix for a problem that is spreading dangerously across the country.The 2025 Botswana General...

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