Air Botswana to receive P166m injection

Mbongeni Mguni | Monday February 13, 2023 06:00

Hard times: Air Botswana was in dire straits even before the COVID-19 lockdowns which shut down local and international travel. The local airline has relied on government bail-outs for years PIC: KENNEDY RAMOKONE

According to draft budget estimates released by the Finance ministry this week, Air Botswana was initially due to receive support of P133.6 million under the Transitional National Development Plan which runs from April this year until March 2025.

However, the proposed funding was increased to P168.6 million for the period, with P165.8 million due to be given to the airline for the 2023–24 financial year.

“...Air Botswana Finances need to be increased by P35 million from P133.6 million to P168.6 million in order to adequately cater for refurbishment of Air Botswana fleet,” reads a note accompanying the draft estimates.

The planned funding is yet to be assessed and approved by legislators.

The extra funds for the national airline will come from diverting the budget proposed for civil aviation infrastructure. Finance ministry technocrats said even with the diversion, the funding left for the aviation infrastructure projects would be sufficient.

The latest funds follow a P100 million bail-out extended by government to the national airline in 2020 when local and regional movement restrictions worsened Air Botswana’s perennial financial troubles.

In 2019, Air Botswana said it planned to trim down 210 employees from 450 with the majority of departures headed to a new subsidiary, to focus on its core mandate.

The airline, also retrenched in 2016 and 2017, while also getting rid of the old planes and refleeting. However, it has suffered running losses since 2008, due to an ageing fleet, high maintenance costs, equipment failure, route redundancy, and pressure from competition.

Government has attempted to privatise Air Botswana four times – in 2003, 2006, 2008, and 2017 – each time failing either due to investors withdrawing, or Cabinet rejecting the terms offered.

Last year, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said a renewed attempt would be made to bring in private partners into the national airline.

“Government will enter into a strategic partnership with the private sector to revitalise and develop Air Botswana, which is seen as playing a critical role in the economy,” he said when announcing the ministerial and parastatals overhaul in April.

While government has pumped cash into Air Botswana’s books now and again, the Finance ministry appears reluctant to commit to annual subventions to the national airline. The draft estimates made available this week indicate that the last time Air Botswana received a subvention from government was P76.2 million in the 2021–22 financial year.

“Government said they are out of subventions and that is proving very difficult for us at a time when we are inducting our aircraft and getting used to feeding ourselves,” former Air Botswana chair, Tebogo Masire told journalists previously.