Sir Seretse Khama International Airport
| Sir Seretse Khama International Airport | |||||||||||
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| 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°ECoordinates: 24°33′19″S 025°55′06″E / 24.55528°S 25.91833°E | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  GBE Location within Botswana | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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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.
Airlines and destinations
^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 which was grounded with technical problems.[6]
Botswana Defence Force Air Wing
Botswana Defence Force Air Wing VIP Flight Wing is based at the airport.
Photographs
Construction on the airport expansion
Air Botswana ATR 72-500 at Khama Airport 2011
Khama Airport 2011
Airport before expansion
Old interior of Khama Airport
References
- ↑ Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana–Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (GBE)
- ↑ "Ministry of Works & Transport. Department of Civil Aviation". Department of Civil Aviation. 2005. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
- ↑ http://www.etnw.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=78794
- ↑ http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/270304/ethiopian-airlines-s17-operation-changes-as-of-07dec16/?highlight=ethiopian
- ↑ "Ethiopian adds Victoria Falls service from March 2017". 28 November 2016.
- ↑ "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 5 September 2009.
External links
Media related to Sir Seretse Khama Airport at Wikimedia Commons
- Airport information for Sir Seretse Khama International Airport at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
- Airport information for Sir Seretse Khama International Airport at Great Circle Mapper.
- Accident history for Sir Seretse Khama International Airport at Aviation Safety Network