Sir Seretse Khama International Airport , located north of downtown Gaborone, is the main international airport of the capital city of Botswana. It is the busiest airport in the country. In 2017 the airport got its first special economic zone which would house in the following departments: CAAB, Botswana Innovation Hub, ITPA and diamond hub for diamond sector.
History Prior to the airport, the city of Gaborone was served by Gaborones Airport. By the 1980s, its inadequate infrastructure prompted the construction of a new replacement airport in 1982. The airport was opened in 1984, and was dedicated to Seretse Khama, the first president of Botswana, whom led the country to independence in 1966.
The new airport was built on a greenfield site, having a 3,000 metre long runway capable of handling the Boeing 747 and Douglas DC-10. However, the terminal was only built to process 100 passengers per hour, unmatched with the wide-body capabilities of the runway.
British Airways started flying to the airport in 1987 from London Heathrow via Johannesburg, but the route was discontinued in April 1999.
In 2008, the airport started a major expansion. The old terminal could handle only 225 people at a time. The terminal size increased from 3,140 m2 to 17,000 m2. New baggage and screening equipment were installed. The existing runway was rehabilitated and 4,000 m parallel taxiway was built.
Airlines and destinations
Statistics +Aircraft and Passenger Movements Year Aircraft Movements Passenger Movements International Domestic Total International Domestic Total 2012 10,477 5,673 16,150 306,360 100,616 406,976 2013 10,552 5,794 16,346 296,538 104,562 401,100 2014 11,718 4,830 16,548 293,125 91,251 384,376 2015 12,442 5,121 17,563 298,717 83,563 382,280 2016 12,585 4,854 17,439 316,874 85,991 402,865 2017 11,497 4,483 15,980 345,975 78,665 424,640 2018 11,381 4,754 16,135 362,914 81,55 444,473 2019 11,969 4,331 16,299 392,106 78,866 470,972 2020 3,719 2,199 5,918 86,137 31,090 117,227 2021 5,076 2,776 7,852 108,238 37,924 146,162 2022 6,937 2,946 9,883 246,286 57,414 303,700 2023 7,499 2,964 10,463 291,739 61,626 353,36520247,8062,94910,755343,76764,046407,813
Botswana Defence Force Air Wing Botswana Defence Force Air Wing VIP Flight Wing is based at the airport.
Accidents and incidents
On 11 October 1999, an Air Botswana pilot, Captain Chris Phatswe, commandeered a parked Aérospatiale ATR 42 aircraft A2-ABB without authorization in the early morning and took off. Once in the air, he asked by radio to speak to the president, Air Botswana's general manager, the station commander, central police station and his girlfriend, among others. Because the president was out of the country, he was allowed to speak to the vice president. In spite of all attempts to persuade him to land and discuss his grievances, he stated he was going to crash into some aircraft on the apron. After a total flying time of about 2 hours, he did two loops and then crashed at into Air Botswana's two other ATR 42s parked on the apron. The captain was killed but there were no other casualties.
Airline sources say the pilot had been grounded on medical reasons, refused reinstatement and regrounded until February 2000. Air Botswana operations were crippled, as the airline temporarily only had one aircraft left – a BAe 146 that was grounded with technical problems.
References
External links
Accident history for Sir Seretse Khama International Airport at Aviation Safety Network