07 Jun 2015

Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr Tshenolo Mabeo says aviation transport plays a critical role in modern economies, including the growing economies of the world.

Speaking at the launch and commissioning of the state of the art aviation equipment at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport Friday, June 5, Mr Mabeo said in aviation, fuel was also one of the most important resources, hence the need to improve its management and provision as well as count with effective monitoring systems to avoid loss of input and reduce costs.

Air Botswana unveiled new cargo and ground handling equipment alongside Puma Energy’s new 65 cubic meters Jet A – 1 fueller.

Equipment includes three ground power units which can supply ground power to any aircraft on the ground, two small and large aircraft pushback trucks which are capable of pushing any size aircraft.

There are also three mobile passenger steps to assist passengers to board and disembark aircraft, two ramp buses that would transport passengers between the airport terminal and apron with a capacity to carry 110 passengers.

The Puma Energy new fuel trucks replaced tractor bowsers to supply and better control fuel to local aircrafts.

Mr Mabeo stated that with new equipment, cargo operations would be greatly enhanced, citing an example with the high loader suitable for lower and upper deck of an aircraft and has the capacity to load and offload 15 tonnes.

The minister said the airline was also preparing itself to become the ground handler for new airlines that would be flying into SSKIA, some of which have already announced their intention to fly to Gaborone with some of the airlines flying big jets that carried a lot of people.

Therefore, he said as a ground handler, Air Botswana needed to demonstrate its capability and capacity to deal with such large numbers of people.

Mr Mabeo said government found it necessary to resource Air Botswana by providing ground handling equipment hence the intention to re-fleet it.

He said Botswana had witnessed a huge opportunity with the relocation of the Diamond Trading Company hence presenting a chance for Air Botswana to capture new world markets as international diamond dealers travelled in and out of Botswana.

As such, Minister Mabeo challenged Air Botswana to up its game and quell rumours of incompetence as government spent money into Botswana’s sole airliner.

Air Botswana general manager, Mr Ben Dahwa said the airline had improved its services in order to become competitive and relevant in the market.

Mr Dahwa said government gave them P43 million to commission the project out of which only P30 million was spent in the procurement process.

That, he added, was the beginning of greater things adding Air Botswana was prepared to serve the market with the ground breaking equipment.

Puma Energy general manager, Mr Mahube Mpungwa said the P5 million large fueller sourced from France was able to fuel larger aircrafts promptly to meet the turnaround time.

Mr Mpungwa said the partnership signalled a long standing relationship with the airliner in serving the customers diligently. ENDS