New strategy to improve Gaborone schedule

Delays when flying into
Botswana may soon be
something of the past thanks to
collaboration between the country’s
national airline and management
consultants to rationalise and
improve the schedule.
According to Thapelo Tebogo
Moribame, marketing manager
for Air Botswana, the airline has
been working with appointed
management consultants to
address the airline’s critical areas
of operation and develop a five-year
strategy.
“The consultants have worked
very closely with us and we have
been able to address many of the
challenges that have plagued us
in recent years including delays,”
said Moribame. “A strategy has
been developed and is currently
going through the channels of
approval. We are hoping this will
happen before the end of the year.
This strategy will address some of
the fleet problems we have been
experiencing as well as the internal
systems issues.”
She said in the interim the
schedule was lean and efficiencydriven
and that frequency had
been reduced on certain routes eg,
the Gaborone-Harare, Gaborone-
Lusaka route, while Gaborone-
Johannesburg had increased
frequency.
“And it is paying off with the
highest on time performance -
around 92% -recorded in July,”
she said. “Our biggest problem
in terms of passengers has been
due to aircraft and scheduling
challenges. The scheduling has
been addressed. The plan for the
aircraft is in place.”
On the regional front the
airline, which still flies daily
from Gaborone to Johannesburg,
now only flies to Cape Town,
Lusaka and Harare twice a week
and three times a week between
Johannesburg and Francistown.
There is also a twice-weekly service
between Cape Town and Maun
while Johannesburg-Maun flights
are offered daily.