Robert Mpabanga ... it's a service long overdue.
AIR BOTSWANA has introduced a dedicated freighter on its Gaborone-Johannesburg service to meet growing demand for fast delivery cargo, especially on the Botswana side.
The F27 started its three-days-a-week schedule on March 1, with Monday, Wednesday and Friday flights leaving Johannesburg International Airport at 05:15 daily and returning from Gaborone at 17.30 the same day. Maximum loads are around the 4,5tons mark. Overnight stops are made at this end.
Until now the airline has depended on bellyload capacity on its small passenger craft which fly the route. This capacity will continue where available, but the airline has for some time perceived a void in the market which it believed it should be filling, says RSA manager Robert Mpabanga.
Road transport had until last month been the order of the day, but truckers and shippers in general had complained about time delays and the need to put up bonds before vehicles could move between the two countries.
It's a service that is long overdue and with Botswana's solid economy these days, the country depends on imports and wants them in quick time, he says.
Lufthansa does the ground handling at this end, with Air Botswana its own gsa.
Depending on cargo volumes, frequencies may be increased in the future. This, says Mpabanga, is a strong possibility with reaction from agents very positive at this stage.
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