Sir Seretse Khama International Airport

Sir Seretse Khama
International Airport
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Civil Government
Serves Gaborone
Location Gaborone, Botswana
Hub for Air Botswana
Elevation AMSL 3,299 ft / 1,006 m
Coordinates 24°33′19″S 025°55′06″E / 24.55528°S 25.91833°E / -24.55528; 25.91833Coordinates: 24°33′19″S 025°55′06″E / 24.55528°S 25.91833°E / -24.55528; 25.91833
Website caab.co.bw
Map
GBE
Location within Botswana
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
08/26 13,123 4,000[1] Concrete

Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (IATA: GBE, ICAO: FBSK), located 15 kilometres (9 mi) north of Gaborone, is the main international airport of the capital city of Botswana. The airport is named after Sir Seretse Khama, the first president of Botswana.[2] It was opened in 1984 and offers limited capacity to handle regional and (especially) international traffic. Nonetheless, it has the largest passenger movement in the country. In 2017 the airport got its first special economic zone which will house in the following departments: CAAB, BIH, ITPA and diamond hub for diamond sector.[3][4]

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Air BotswanaCape Town,[5] Francistown, Johannesburg–OR Tambo, Kasane, Maun, Victoria Falls
Air NamibiaDurban1, Windhoek–Hosea Kutako
AirlinkJohannesburg–OR Tambo
Ethiopian AirlinesAddis Ababa2
South African ExpressJohannesburg–OR Tambo[6]

^1 Air Namibia have been granted 5th freedom rights and will service traffic between Windhoek and Durban.
^2 This flight operates between Addis Ababa and Gaborone via Victoria Falls. However, Ethiopian Airlines does not have rights to transport passengers solely between Gaborone and Victoria Falls.

Incidents and accidents

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 200 knots (370 km/h; 230 mph) 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.[7]

Botswana Defence Force Air Wing

Botswana Defence Force Air Wing VIP Flight Wing is based at the airport.

Photographs

References

  1. ↑ Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana–Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE) Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  2. ↑ "Ministry of Works & Transport. Department of Civil Aviation". Department of Civil Aviation. 2005. Archived from the original on 3 October 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
  3. ↑ "Appointment for Sir Seretse Khama International Airport". Royal HaskoningDHV. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  4. ↑ "Botswana plans Special Economic Zone to house diamond trading hub". Namibia Economist. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  5. ↑ http://info.flightmapper.net/route/Air_Botswana_BP_CPT_GBE
  6. ↑ http://atwonline.com/airlines/south-african-regional-sa-express-cleared-restart-flights
  7. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident ATR-42-320 A2-ABB Gaborone–Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE)". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. 18 November 2005. Retrieved 3 April 2018.

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