Commenced operations | 1966 |
---|---|
Ceased operations | 1971 |
Operating bases | Sir Seretse Khama International Airport |
Founder | Johnny Gibson |
Botswana National Airways was an airline based in Gaborone, Botswana.
The airline took over services from Bechuanaland National Airways which ceased operations in late 1966. [1] The airline was formed by Johnny Gibson under the leadership of D. Morgan. [1] [2]
After Botswana's independence, Bechuanaland National Airways was renamed Botswana National Airways. It began services on domestic and regional routes utilising Douglas DC-3 and DC-4 aircraft and later a Vickers Viscount and Fokker F-27, which saw flights being operated from Gaborone to Livingstone and Lusaka in Zambia, and Johannesburg in South Africa. Services to Bulawayo in Rhodesia were commenced in October 1966 in conjunction with South African Airways. Domestic flights were flown with a Britten-Norman Islander and a Beech Baron, with the F-27 sometimes being utilised on the Gaborone-Francistown route. [1]
During 1967, the airline began to carry diesel fuel for the Roan Selection Trust Copper mines in Zambia and a Douglas DC-4, acquired from Philippine Airlines, was utilised in which the airline flew 32 tons of fuel daily between Francistown and Livingstone, from where it was carried by rail to the Copperbelt region. [1]
Following the 1968 United Nations Security Council resolution banning air transportation to and from Rhodesia, Botswana National Airways was forced to cease operations to Bulawayo. [3]
The airline suspended operations in late 1969, and was placed into receivership. The bankruptcy court deemed that it would be impossible for the airline to emerge from receivership and to recover its debts, [1] which in July 1969 totalled some 453,600 rand. [4]
The company was acquired by the Government of Botswana and Burton Construction in July 1969, and Botswana Airways Corporation was formed on 1 November 1969. [4] The new company resumed some operations, before ceasing all operations by 1971. [4]
Transportation in Botswana is provided by an extensive network of railways, highways, ferry services and air routes that criss-cross the country. The transport sector in Botswana played an important role in economic growth following its independence in 1966. The country discovered natural resources which allowed it to finance the development of infrastructure, and policy ensured that the transport sector grew at an affordable pace commensurate with demands for services.
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Francistown is the second-largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 103,417 and 147,122 inhabitants for its agglomeration at the 2022 census. It is located in eastern Botswana, about 400 kilometres (250 mi) north-northeast from the capital, Gaborone. Francistown is located at the confluence of the Tati and Ntshe rivers, and near the Shashe River and 90 kilometres (56 mi) from the international border with Zimbabwe.
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List of Railway stations in Botswana include:
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William Harrison "Harry" Anderson was an American missionary for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He arrived in Africa in 1895 and established the Solusi Mission near Bulawayo, Rhodesia. Anderson and the mission survived the Second Matabele War and a 1899–1901 malaria outbreak. In 1903 he established the Rusangu Mission in the north of Rhodesia, which now hosts schools and a university. Anderson later worked in the Bechuanaland Protectorate and Angola. From 1935 to his retirement in 1945 he was employed by the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Africa Division with responsibilities stretching from Cape Town to Lake Chad.
The 1974 Francistown Wenela Air Services Douglas DC-4 crash occurred on April 4, 1974. On this day, a Douglas DC-4 operated by Wenela Air Services, conducting an international scheduled flight from Francistown Airport in Botswana to Chileka Airport in Malawi, was forced to make an emergency landing due to engine failure, resulting in the death of 78 out of 84 people on board. This incident remains the deadliest aviation accident in Botswana and the third deadliest involving a Douglas DC-4.