Maun International Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorCivil Aviation Authority of Botswana
ServesMaun, Botswana
Hub for
Elevation AMSL3,093 ft / 943 m
Coordinates19°58′21″S 23°25′50″E / 19.97250°S 23.43056°E / -19.97250; 23.43056
Websitecaab.co.bw
Map
MUB is located in Botswana
MUB
MUB
Location of the airport in Botswana
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 3,700 12,139 Asphalt
Sources: GCM[1] SkyVector[2]
Apron Airport Maun (2015)

Maun Airport (IATA: MUB, ICAO: FBMN) is an international airport serving the town of Maun in the North-West District of Botswana. It is on the north side of the town and is accessible by shuttle bus or taxi.

Maun Airport serves as the main gateway to the Okavango Delta and the Moremi Game Reserve. Many tour operators offer chartered flights over the Delta and to Botswana destinations such as the Makgadikgadi Pans, one of the largest seasonal wetlands in Africa. Servicing the many lodges in the area is a major activity, including the transport of passengers and provisions, with short-distance flights taking a few minutes where the journey by 4x4 truck would take several hours. These operations, during their peak in the June to August high season, make the airport the second-busiest in Africa for aircraft movements.[3]

There are also daily scheduled flights to destinations in Botswana and South Africa.[4][5]

Wilderness Air operates regular charter flights from its Windhoek-Eros-hub, Namibia to Maun.[6]

Early history 1925-1939

The aircraft were awaited as they brought news of the outside world, mail, medicines, foodstuffs, and above all, new people to a community hundreds of kilometres from the nearest big town. The first air service began in the 1930s, using a landing strip that today is Maun's main street. The strip was later moved away from the town centre to the present site of the airport.

The earliest known flights over the Okavango took place in July 1925, and were part of a survey of rivers in the region, using aircraft based in Livingstone. Two Airco D.H. 9 type, numbers 142 and 144 of the then Union Defense Force of South Africa, were used, piloted by Captain C.W. Meredith and Lieutenant L. Tasker. They routed to Livingstone from Johannesburg via Bulawayo.[7]

Airlink commenced direct flights between Cape Town and Maun starting in March 2016.[8] In October 2016, Air Namibia suspended scheduled flights to Maun Airport.[4] In May 2018 government officials confirmed their commitment to refurbish and upgrade the existing airport building.[9]

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Air Botswana Gaborone, Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo, Kasane, Victoria Falls
AirlinkCape Town,[10] Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo[11]
CemAirJohannesburg–O. R. Tambo[12]
Fastjet ZimbabweVictoria Falls[13]

Accidents

In March 2000 a Cessna 414 crashed on its way from Gaborone to Maun. The pilot and a passenger walked for over 200 kilometres (120 mi) to find help.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Airport information for Maun Airport at Great Circle Mapper.
  2. ↑ SkyVector - Maun Airport
  3. ↑ Spaeth, Andreas (July 2023). "Botswana's sky-high bush safari". Airliner World (288): 53–61.
  4. 1 2 "Southern & East African Tourism Update".
  5. ↑ Air Botswana, 2009
  6. ↑ "Wilderness Air » Botswana". www.wilderness-air.com. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  7. ↑ "www.ngamitimes.com/Archives/". The Ngami Times. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  8. ↑ "Cape Town gets direct flight link to Botswana's Okavango Delta". Traveller. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  9. ↑ Pelontle, Kedirebofe (11 May 2018). "Botswana: Maun Airport Terminal Building On Cards". Botswana Daily News (Gaborone). Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  10. ↑ "SA Airlink Adds Cape Town - Maun Service from March 2016". Airlineroute.net. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Air Namibia to suspend flights to Maun". 25 June 2016.
  12. ↑ "CemAir Adds Johannesburg - Maun Service From May 2023". AeroRoutes. 10 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  13. ↑ "Cheap flights to Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana".
  14. ↑ "BBC News | AFRICA | Crash survivors found in desert".

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