Aviation is a largely an untapped industry in Botswana, but it has huge potential to diversify the economy and create meaningful jobs. The state poor state of aviation in Botswana is largely due to the fact, that for a long time the country has had no policy on aviation, but rather just anecdotal titbits in the odd state of the nation address or budget speech. I like to say Aviation in Botswana has largely been treated as a necessary inconvenience. There is a need for a series of reforms to create a healthy thriving industry that can stimulate economic growth. I shall set out the reforms that I think need to be implemented as a matter of urgency.
Aviation Department
In most states where aviation is thriving, they have ministries of aviation that develop government aviation policy and laws and see to their implementation in line with the strategy of the government. This is mainly done to avoid a situation where aviation interests are drowned in the larger ministry of transport which is at the forefront of delivering huge infrastructure such as roads which in most cases are the bread-and-butter issues for most of the citizenry. And therefore, get more preference.
I appreciate the complexity of creating a new ministry. With that in mind, I would advise that there be a whole department dedicated to aviation in the Ministry of Transport with the long-term view of it morphing into a ministry as the aviation industry grows. The mandate of the Department would be to advise government on aviation legislation and to develop and implement aviation economic policy and issue air service licenses. The legislation and policy should be in line with the Yamoussoukro Declaration of 1999, Single Africa Air Travel Market (SAATM) and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA). Botswana has ratified the forementioned treaties but remains way behind in crafting legislation that guide their implementation as it relates to aviation.
The department would require a staff compliment of technocrats with background in air transport economics, air transport law, air transport operations. I know the norm is that as soon as the word “aviation” is mentioned the default thought process is to go rope in pilots and aircraft engineers. That has proved to be catastrophic in most cases reason being that most pilots and engineers are not trained on the commercial aspect of the aviation industry and most of them never capacitate themselves with further studies in areas such as airline management, air transport economics, air transport legislation etc. To compound to this handicap most pilots and engineers never make their way into the corporate space of aviation. Therefore, when seeking to staff the Aviation Department careful consideration should be made to select technocrats that combine an array of skills and exposure to the aviation industry. Not just to select candidates with “donkey years) experience in one sphere of aviation. Otherwise, the department will not achieve its intended purpose.
Air Botswana and the Civil Aviation Authority should then report to the Aviation department within the Ministry of Transport. I believe this approach would move the country a step closer to realising the objectives of the Yamoussoukro Declaration, the SAATM & ACFTA. It goes without saying that the Civil Aviation Act of 2011 and the Air Botswana Act of 1988 will also need to be tweaked to cater of this envisaged arrangement.
Air Botswana
Air Botswana has been a loss-making entity for over a decade. The state of Air Botswana is not a shock to anyone in the aviation industry. The airline is grossly mismanaged and there is no accountability, as evidenced by the horror show currently unfolding with the re-fleeting exercise.
I have seen suggestions that it should be privatised for it to be turned around. I find that view a bit disingenuous and quite frankly a lazy way out. Ethiopian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways are wholly state owned and yet they are successful. I suggest the following;
Air Botswana Act
Air Botswana in its current form exists because of the Air Botswana Act of 1988. The act has not been amended even once in its 37 years of existence, think of how much the world has changed since 1988 let alone the aviation industry.
The Air Botswana act has section 18. (1) which reads “The Corporation shall, with the approval of the Minister, which approval shall not unreasonably be withheld, prescribe the tariffs at which it provides air transport services so as to ensure that it is able to comply with the provisions of section 17”. Such clauses have passed their sell by date, they are anti-business. The aviation industry is fast moving and requires decisions to be made at lightning speed.
Another section 4. (1) of the act reads “The governing board of the corporation shall be a board of Management consisting of the following members appointed by the Minister”
(a) the Chairman.
(b) the General Manager of the Corporation appointed under section 10, ex officio; and
(c) not less than 5 or more than 7 other persons who in the opinion of the Minister have knowledge and experience likely to contribute to the successful management of the Corporation.
Section 4 belongs to history; it needs to be amended to correspond to the times we live in. The section needs to incorporate a process that board members are appointed, a schedule of minimum pre-requisite qualifications for board members. There should be a “cooling off” period for air Botswana employees before assuming board roles and vice versa, I have seen in the past an individual resigning from Air Botswana today and being appointed a board member tomorrow.
Air Botswana Organisational Structure
Modern airlines exist as a symbiotic network of separate business entities housed under one holding company. Air Botswana however still operates with an archaic centralised structure from the 80s. The reason for the unbundling of airlines was to maximise revenue generation and to be able to identify and deal with the loss-making units quick.
Therefore, Air Botswana needs to follow suit as matter of urgency to unbundle Air Operations (what we all know as the airline), Aircraft Maintenance Organisation (which is currently the engineering department), Ground handling (what we know as the baggage handling), Cargo (which is non-existent now), ApprovedTraining Organisation (which is non-existent).
Aircraft maintenance is a huge industry. Maintenance checks can cost as much as USD 500000 per check. Air Botswana must tap onto this as a matter of urgency, conditions exist for this opportunity to be seized. Air Botswana is one of the oldest ATR operators in Sub Saharan Africa, therefore it has produced quite a sizeable amount of engineers, some of whom are now sitting at home idle. Air Botswana Engineering must be morphed into a separate Aircraft Maintenance Organisation that bills Air Botswana Air Operations for its services and takes on third party maintenance from other operators in the region.
As with engineers Air Botswana has produced quite a lot of ATR pilots. Air Botswana incurs a lot in training costs sending pilots for simulator training to Netherlands and Thailand. If Air Botswana had an Approved Training Organisation, investments in simulators would be a cash cow, as currently there are no ATR72-600 AND Embraer 170-175 in the region. Other Operators in the continent would utilise this Approved Training Organisation.
One might sceptically ask “where would the money for all of this come from”? I must say this would be a legitimate question; however, I am of the believe that with the right leadership at the helm this is achievable. Ethiopian Airlines has never operated an ATR aircraft before, instead choosing their arch nemesis the Bombardier Q400 as their default turboprop but guess what, this has not stopped ATR from signing an agreement with Ethiopian airlines to set up an ATR maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Addis Ababa (huge, missed opportunity for Botswana). In a similar manner Air Botswana business development and commercial departments should be able to pitch to simulator training providers to come into partnership and set up in Gaborone.
The cost of transporting a kilogram of cargo is up to two times more than transporting a passenger. Air Botswana has no meaningful cargo operation. It was therefore no shock to read that the Botswana Meat Commission has entered to an agreement with Ethiopian Airlines to carry Botswana beef to export markets (yet another missed opportunity). Trade between Botswana and China has increased significantly making a case for a dedicated cargo operation between the two countries. Air Botswana business development and commercial departments should be at the forefront seizing these opportunities.
Air Botswana Air Operations
International Aircraft movement statistics for the financial year 2023/2024 from Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana report show Maun and Kasane to be at a combined total of 7293. Even though the report does not specify aircraft types, these aircrafts would have required some form of ground handling (fuel arrangement, aircraft cleaning, baggage services etc). If Air Botswana ground handling existed as a separate entity they would be compelled to seize this opportunity.
International Passenger movement statistics for the financial year 2023/2024 from Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana report show Maun and Kasane to be at a combined total of 129 862. Air Botswana accounts for less than 40% of these passengers. This needs to be remedied as soon as possible. Air Botswana needs to have routes from the East African hubs (Addis Ababa & Nairobi) to Maun maybe with a stop in Kasane, this will eliminate the need for tourists to fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town then turn back to Maun or Kasane.
Domestic passenger movement statistics for the financial year 2023/2024 from Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana report show Maun to be at 192 274 and Kasane to be at 71 520 accounting for 75% of all domestic passengers. The bulk component of this figure is tourists that arrive on foreign airlines and then make onward journeys to the various luxury safari resorts in the Okavango Delta and the Chobe area. Air fares for these journeys start from USD 150 for 30-50 min flight using single engine turbo propeller aircrafts which are single crew operated and require no cabin crew. This makes the profit margins huge; Air Botswana has no presence in this market segment. Air Botswana needs to enter this market through partnering with an already existing operator or setting up its own subsidiary. This would maximise revenue as Air Botswana would be able to bring in passengers from the hubs like Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Johannesburg and Cape Town all the way to their final destination in Botswana. I opine that Air Botswana ‘continued existence hinges on it controlling a huge chunk of the luxury safari travel market.
Air Botswana Human Capital
Over the years the board and or General Manager (GM) would be made up of appointees from mining, telecommunications, law firms, banking etc. Hence my conclusion that section 4 of the Air Botswana act 1988 should be remedied. This has led to the current sad situation. Again, I caution that when making appointments to the board and the GM do not fall into the trap of concluding that if one is a pilot or aircraft engineer, they know how to run an airline.
Most pilots and aircraft engineers do not know which variables are at play when it comes to determining how much it costs to put an airplane in the sky for one block flight hour. As I stated earlier most just do not bother to know/learn and most certainly never get exposed to that side of the aviation industry.
Board members and GM need to be hybrid technocrats who understand the technical and commercial aspect of aviation and have been exposed to different environments. Such individuals should be able to intelligently come up with strategies to manipulate the different variables in the costs of running an airline to turn a profit whilst offering reasonably priced air services.
The deficiency in human capital at executive and board level has led to a situation where the airline over relies on external consultants some even from foreign countries. Who then develop solutions that do not consider the dynamics of the organisation and our society.
CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY of BOTSWANA
The civil aviation authority of Botswana seems to have turned the tied with the appointment of Dr Bao Mosinyi who brought vast experience from his time in the United States of America. CAAB has reported a profit which is good. There are a few reforms required to bring Botswana into the modern age and to unlock our potential.
The civil aviation authority of Botswana ‘current structure is also a decade behind modern civil aviation authorities. This in my view stunts aviation development in the country. Countries with advanced civil aviation industries have the following: Regulator, Air Traffic Service Provider and Airports Company.
Regulator-Civil Aviation Authority
CAAB needs to exist purely as a regulator as envisaged by the Chicago Convention of 1944 which necessitated the passing of the civil aviation act of 2011. As it is now, we have a lot of grey areas where CAAB acts as a referee and a player in the same match. For example, CAAB owns, operates and licenses airports/aerodromes. CAAB owns, operates air traffic services equipment, approves the equipment and licenses air traffic controllers. This Should not be the case.
Air Navigation Service Provider
The air navigation function needs to be split from the regulator and exist on its own providing and charging for provision of air traffic services in Botswana. The regulator (CAAB) would then do their job of regulating and licensing of the air navigation service provider as ICAO annex 11 and associated Botswana Civil Aviation Regulation, as is the case globally.
Airports Company
Airport infrastructure management and operation should also be delinked from CAAB and be handed to an airports company. The airports company will be tasked with infrastructure upkeep and commercialisation of our airports and CAAB will perform its regulatory function as per ICAO annex 18 and associated Botswana Civil Aviation Regulations.
The existence of the airports company and the air navigation service provider as separate business units would lead to them pushing the regulator to grant more freedoms of the sky to both domestic and foreign air operators. As the airports company and the air navigation service provider ‘revenue is directly tied to aircraft and passenger traffic. This would the hopefully trickle down to the consumer as low air services fares due to the increased competition. This would liberalise our market in line with the Yamoussoukro Treaty, SAATM and ACFTA
Conclusion
I believe that the reforms suggested above would set us up for creating an aviation eco-system that would enable the country to have a thriving aviation industry. I however remain very open to critique and engagement to refine these ideas for the better.
