SSKIA to host air show

Sharon Mathala | Thursday September 15, 2016 15:01

The air show will be hosted at the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (SSKIA) on September 24. This will also be BTO’s way of honouring the country’s golden jubilee celebration.

Speaking at a press briefing recently, Jillian Blackbeared, who is also rumoured to be the next BTO CEO, after the sudden resignation of Thabo Dithebe said the air show, which will not be an annual event, has cost BTO around P6 million.

 “We are looking into expanding our tourism, hence the need to venture into sport tourism. We have just hosted the world strongest man event, which was also a way of bringing the world closer to Botswana. We also hope to market Botswana with this international event,” she said.

“We have budgeted around P6 million with an expected revenue of P3 million from ticket sales,” she said.

Blackbeared said they are expecting an estimated 25,000 patrons at the air show. BTO also reassured that the air show will not affect the day to day running of the airport.

“We are expecting about 25,000 people to grace the event. The show will be at a secluded part of the airport, this will not affect the normal day-to-day business of the airport even with as many people,” she said.

Just a sneak peak at the event, Blackbeared said a plane will be landing on a moving car at high speed.

The demonstration programmes will also be formulated in two parts, the good weather and bad weather demonstrations. Through experience, the demonstrations will be limited to maximum of 20 minutes for each display for maximum effect.