Botswana’s drive to improve air connectivity is starting to show results with international seat capacity expected to increase by 56% between 2023 and 2026.
The country’s Air Access initiative, launched by the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana in August 2024, has helped secure several new regional routes, including Airlink’s Cape Town-Gaborone service, SAA’s Johannesburg-Gaborone route, Ethiopian Airlines’ Addis Ababa-Maun connection and Proflight Zambia’s Lusaka-Livingstone-Maun service.
Safari operators told Tourism Update that the additional connectivity has significantly improved access to Botswana’s tourism regions, particularly the northern safari circuit.
“There are obviously new routes and increased capacity has been incredibly beneficial to the industry, bringing more volume and new routes into the country,” said Dave van Smeerdijk, Co-Founder and CEO of Natural Selection.
“The Ethiopian direct flight has been a game changer and really put northern Botswana on the map. The Johannesburg route is very popular and often fully booked so we could use extra capacity on that leg as well as the Cape Town route.”
The Ethiopian service and increased Johannesburg capacity delivered the greatest tourism benefits, Van Smeerdijk added.
“It adds more volume to an expanding tourism market in terms of supplying beds to northern Botswana.”
Tessa Bell, Co-Founder of The Pack, said air access into Botswana’s tourism areas has improved considerably over the past few years.
“We have seen a vast improvement in choices of routes into the tourist areas of Botswana, which makes a more cost-effective single direction itinerary more feasible than it was previously.”
According to Bell, the growth in regional connectivity has reduced travellers’ dependence on expensive charter flights.
“Buying a multi-leg trip, which allows for an efficient one-way itinerary, has made travel in the area less reliant on costly charter flights.”
While both operators praised recent developments, they highlighted several gaps that still need to be addressed.
Van Smeerdijk believes Botswana requires more international services and additional capacity on existing routes.
“More direct international flights like Ethiopian would be great for the industry as well as better connectivity to Namibia. More capacity on all those routes is needed. A Vic Falls to Maun route would also be welcomed.”
A Middle Eastern carrier could further strengthen Botswana’s global connectivity, Van Smeerdijk pointed out.
“Ethiopian has opened the world to northern Botswana as a direct path and there is an opportunity for a Middle Eastern carrier to connect the world, especially the Far East.”
Bell agreed that the Ethiopian route has improved access to long-haul source markets but noted shortcomings in the current offering.
“The Ethiopian flight out of Maun is a great improvement in access to source markets. However, the Ndola stop is off-putting as well as the overnight experience in Addis,” she said.
“Connections via Victoria Falls and Windhoek to source markets have improved greatly over the same period and offer strong alternatives to routing via South Africa. This highlights that there are gaps but one has to ask whether there is enough demand.”
Challenges
Both operators also identified air access challenges that continue to affect Botswana’s tourism sector.
“High taxes limit the competitiveness of fares coming into Botswana compared to other regional access hubs like Windhoek or Victoria Falls. Reliability of intra-country air travel also hinders the sector,” said Bell.
Many clients opt to fly from Maun to Kasane by charter flight, which can include multiple stops and it can be uncomfortable, as the alternatives are unreliable, she added.
“The seasonality of the regional flights creates uncertainty and the lack of consistency means they are often forgotten or not considered as alternative routes.”
Bell believes a connection between Botswana and Zimbabwe could be the next development.
“We look forward to seeing how the Proflight Zambia connection fares. A connection through the Gulf rather than Addis, with preferred overnight options and better transit experiences, would make direct connections into Botswana’s tourism areas easier,” she said.
Van Smeerdijk said more seats on the Johannesburg route (early-morning and late-afternoon flights), additional international flights into Maun and even a low-cost carrier serving the destination would support future growth.
