Africa-Press – Botswana. President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi is expected to officially open the refurbished Maun International Airport terminal building today.
The refurbishment, which entailed some upgrades and modernisation of the terminal building, ground floor infrastructure and systems, commenced in April 2019 and was completed May 2021 at a cost of P153 530 183.The terminal building can accommodate and process 270 passengers per hour.
A statement from Civil Aviation Authority Botswana (CAAB) says Maun International Airport is one of the busiest in Southern Africa, something attributable to being a gateway to the Okavango Delta.
The statement says most of the air traffic in and out of Maun consists of light aircrafts, which fly to and from the delta.
It says the expansion has provided sufficient space to accommodate passenger circulation of around 1.5 square metres per passenger.
The renovations offer an increased number of check-in counters, an expanded public concourse with the total ground floor area having been increased from 649 square metres to 2 209.
“There is provision of meet and greet areas, enlarged departure halls, separation of domestic and international passengers for security screening, provision of new paved parking space and re-arrangement of the airside/landside security boundary,” the statement says.
In an interview, Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO), tourism development manager in Maun, Mr Thatayaone Mmapatsi, said the airport played a pivotal role in tourism.
He highlighted that the improvements would ensure that customers received good service in a user friendly environment.
He said BTO wanted to see numbers of tourists arriving in Botswana go up.
“An airport should have all the amenities like curio shops and restaurants, so that even on transit travellers are able to buy duty free as they go,” Mr Mmapatsi added.
Batawana Regent, Kgosi Kealetile Moremi, expressed delight with the new developments, saying being a prime tourism destination, Maun deserved world class facilities such as an international airport.
She highlighted that the refurbished airport was expected to create more jobs.
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