New strategy to improve Gaborone schedule

Delays when flying into Botswana may soon be something of the past thanks to collaboration between the country’s national airline and management consultants to rationalise and improve the schedule. According to Thapelo Tebogo Moribame, marketing manager for Air Botswana, the airline has been working with appointed management consultants to address the airline’s critical areas of operation and develop a five-year strategy. “The consultants have worked very closely with us and we have been able to address many of the challenges that have plagued us in recent years including delays,” said Moribame. “A strategy has been developed and is currently going through the channels of approval. We are hoping this will happen before the end of the year. This strategy will address some of the fleet problems we have been experiencing as well as the internal systems issues.” She said in the interim the schedule was lean and efficiencydriven and that frequency had been reduced on certain routes eg, the Gaborone-Harare, Gaborone- Lusaka route, while Gaborone- Johannesburg had increased frequency. “And it is paying off with the highest on time performance - around 92% -recorded in July,” she said. “Our biggest problem in terms of passengers has been due to aircraft and scheduling challenges. The scheduling has been addressed. The plan for the aircraft is in place.” On the regional front the airline, which still flies daily from Gaborone to Johannesburg, now only flies to Cape Town, Lusaka and Harare twice a week and three times a week between Johannesburg and Francistown. There is also a twice-weekly service between Cape Town and Maun while Johannesburg-Maun flights are offered daily.