Ethiopian Airlines inaugural flight lands in Maun
Keto Segwai | Monday June 17, 2024 06:00
The route will be covered on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, with a stop-over in the Zambian copper belt city of Ndola. In fact, the inaugural flight on Monday delivered its first passengers to Maun and later took away new passengers to Addis Ababa that afternoon.
All players are optimistic that the three-day weekly route will either turn into a daily routine or exponentially increase passenger tonnage or both. A major player in the establishment of the Maun-Addis Ababa route option to Ethiopian Airlines, Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB) is highly optimistic about the growth.
CAAB CEO, Dr Bao Mosinyi, foresees a development whereby the Ndola leg of the route will be left out in favour of direct flights between Maun and Addis. He recalls that the direct flights between Gaborone and Addis started-off with a Boeing 747 but have since been replaced with the biggest of the Boeing, the Dreamliner due to increased payload of passengers.
In his key note address at the flight inauguration ceremony, assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development Aubrey Lesaso disclosed that the Gaborone-Addis route that started with about 6,238 passengers a year has since ballooned to 74,664 in 2023. Between January and May this year alone that route has already moved 37,909 passengers between Gaborone to Addis.
Lesaso, who officiated on behalf of the Transport and Public Works minister Eric Molale, noted that Maun “has always been at the forefront of the growth of aviation of Botswana decades before the birth of this republic”. He said the Maun International Airport “has of recent years grown to be the busiest of the aerodromes in Botswana – in the number of aircraft landings; we are hopeful that the airport will soon lead in the number of passengers’ arrivals. It is the leading financially profitable airport in Botswana; it has led all our other three international airports in profitability”.
Lesaso expressed government’s commitment to sustaining and nurturing the relationship between Maun airport and the airline. “We will support Ethiopian Airlines into Maun International Airport in every way possible. We would like to see you increase the number of arrivals from three flights per week to daily operations. We thank you for trusting Botswana – this being your second entry into Botswana other than Gaborone which you have been serving for some time now.”
The minister further noted that CAAB is continuously looking at ways of improving the infrastructure at Maun airport. He disclosed that CAAB has recently engaged consultants to look into suitability and long-term sustainability of the current airport considering the growth of passenger movement into the area.
It was also revealed that plans are in place to build VVIP lounge and improve the strength of surfaces areas that include the runway, taxiways and the apron to be able to handle all aircraft categories including the operations of Boeing 747. Member of Parliament of Maun East, Dumelang Saleshando, implored CAAB and government to maximise the advantages of the Maun being both the tourism and aviation capital of Botswana. He noted in particular the strategic location of Botswana in the centre of the SADC region.
Ethiopian Airlines’ managing director of international services, Haimanot Yohannes, said the introduction of the second departure point in Botswana exemplifies their commitment to ensuring a seamless connectivity from their Addis Ababa hub. He pledged that the airline will ensure transformation in traffic flow between Botswana and the airline’s 63 destinations in Africa and 136 globally.
Ethiopian Airlines Group chief executive officer, Mesfin Tasew Bekele, who had on Monday morning officiated at the route launch at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, in early March, said they want to develop air transport in the continent. He described Maun as a strategic addition to their network as it will enable them to offer “our customers a unique opportunity to explore the natural beauty and rich biodiversity of Botswana”. “Our new service does not only strengthen the tourism, trade and overall socio-economic ties between Botswana and Ethiopian global destinations, it also enables us to strengthen our contribution in realising the development of air transport in the African continent,” Bekele said.
The Monday launch was jointly organised by CAAB, the public service, HATAB and Ethiopian Airlines. Meanwhile, FlyNamibia announced this week that the scheduled launch of Windhoek/Maun flight route on July 3 is still on course, though now it is a triangular route linking Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek to Maun International Airport and Katima-Mulilo in north-eastern tip of Namibia bordering the Chobe district. The seasonal route will now operate from July to October, instead of November as earlier scheduled.
FlyNamibia managing director, Andre Compion told a Namibian publication, The Brief that until the end of October, select flights will operate on the route on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. “We are excited to introduce these strategic changes to our flight operations,” said Compion. “By transitioning our flights to Hosea Kutako International Airport and introducing enhanced connectivity between Windhoek, Maun and Katima, we are not only improving access for travellers but also catalysing tourism growth in the Zambezi region.”
The Windhoek-based, privately-owned airline runs a similar route between Eros and Victoria Falls International Airport in Zimbabwe, which was launched on April 4. That route operates on a three-day per week schedule covering Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. It is also a seasonal route but it runs from July to November.