Air travel gets slow start into 2024

The drop saw a decline in the number of movements of airlines into and within the country, at a time when the national carrier plans expansion into other routes. Statistics Botswana transport and infrastructure brief revealed that during the first quarter of 2024, a total of 12, 509 aircraft movements were recorded, a decline of 22.9% from those recorded in the previous quarter. “A total of 161, 742 passenger movements were recorded In Q1 2024, a decrease of 18.4 percent when compared to the previous quarter. International passenger movements constituted 57.4 percent while the remaining 42.6 percent were domestic.

A decrease in passenger movements was recorded in both domestic and international passengers; they went down by 19.0 percent and 17.9 percent respectively,” the report revealed. The Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (SSKIA) registered the bulk of passenger movements with 54.2% of the total, of which 96.3% were scheduled. This made the SSKIA the airport with the highest number of scheduled passenger movements at 65.9% of total passenger movements. The Maun airport followed with 31.2% of total passenger movements, of which 51.9% were scheduled.