Trip Reports - Air Botswana JNB-MUB (Maun)

Air Botswana – Economy Class
JNB-MUB 05 JUNE 2009
ATR 42
Y CLASS: 90%
SEATS 4A 4C 4D
Flying Time: 2 hours

Check in:

We had arrived at the airport early, as we wanted to sort out our VAT refund. The BP check in counter was open, so when we went there at 7:30 am to check in for our 10:00 am flight, the check in agent told us that if we check in early, he cannot assure us that our luggage will be safe as the BP staff had not reported to work. He told us to come back after 8:00 am. I liked his honesty.

We came back at 8:15 am and waited around 10 minutes before we could be checked in. It was straightforward. We then cleared security and immigration, before heading to get the VAT refund. This was quick, as we had pre-registered at the Sandton Shopping Mall.

Boarding:

Boarding is via buses, and was announced at 9:45 am. We boarded the ATR through the rear door (I was excited that we had a forward row, so we would be able to disembark quickly). The plane is very new and configured all economy 2-2. The seat has adequate legroom and pitch. It was a fairly full flight.

Flight:

We were pushed back at 10:00 am, and after a short taxi, were air borne by 10:15 am.

The crew began with a light meal service that consisted of a focaccio sandwich with beef and cheese, nuts, and a selection of juices or water. After one hour they did a bar service that included nuts and a choice of soft drinks and jucies. This was excellent for such a short flight.

BP produces a very good magazine. The flight was very uneventful, and smooth. Service was very good.

Arrival:

We landed close to 12:00 pm. We were explicitly told several times to remain seated until we were instructed to disembark. We waited a full 5 minutes after the doors were open.

Immigration had 4 counters operating, so the whole plane was processed very quickly. The luggage “belt” is a desk. We waited around 10 minutes for the bags to come, and were out very quickly.

Verdict

With the new ATR’s Air Botswana offers a good service. The cabin crew were attentive and polite. It is a very efficient service.

Thanks.

We did this flight in March after they ahd retired the BAe-146s, but before the new ATRs arrived. They were using a wet leased F-28 from a company called Air Quarius, but had one Air Botswana crew member onboard.

The service sounds virtually identical to what we recieved.

Did you have assigned seats? It was open seating for our flight.

Thanks.

Did you have assigned seats? It was open seating for our flight.

Hi PresRDC - we had assigned seats. On the way back, the flight had 12 passengers, and we were allocated seats for weight distribution and asked not to move from these seats for take off / landing.

Thanks for your report. I flew BP nine years ago on the same routing. We had a leased Air Littoral ATR-42 on the way up to Maun and a Fokker-28-4000 from SAS on the way back down. Seats were assigned then too. The Maun airport looks like it has undergone a lot of work since I was there.

We had arrived at the airport early, as we wanted to sort out our VAT refund. The BP check in counter was open, so when we went there at 7:30 am to check in for our 10:00 am flight, the check in agent told us that if we check in early, he cannot assure us that our luggage will be safe as the BP staff had not reported to work. He told us to come back after 8:00 am. I liked his honesty.


Interesting point about the luggage. I had a similar experience at JNB last year: we were flying on Comair from Cape Town to JNB, connecting to an evening flight on AF to Europe. We had a long layover in Jo´burg - which we wanted to spend outside of the airport - and check-in staff in CPT advised us against checking our luggage through due to problems with theft.. We decided to take that risk (we had a lot of luggage) and everything went well, but it illustrates the scale of the problem that airline employees actively warn you about this.

Thanks roadwarriorafrica for a nice report on an airline rarely seen in this forum!

-C

In view of all the "interesting" experiences I've had with Air Botswana over the years, it is nice to read about an uneventful flight.

Johan

In view of all the "interesting" experiences I've had with Air Botswana over the years, it is nice to read about an uneventful flight.

Johan

you spoke too soon johan. Flight back was delayed 90 minutes.

Both our flights were right on time.

Of course, BP wasn't actually operating them.

Thanks for the TR of a less reported on airline.

Thanks for this report. Any one traveled on the JNB-Gaborone route? Is there meal service on such a short flight? Is Air Botswana a reliable airline for on-time performance?

Thanks for this report. Any one traveled on the JNB-Gaborone route? Is there meal service on such a short flight? Is Air Botswana a reliable airline for on-time performance?

They usually serve a snack. No hot meal. They are reasonably reliable. If you could take SAA, they are more reliable.

Flew MUB-JNB one-way in mid-August. Service was good and surpassed all my expectations. When I saw that we were flying an ATR, I thought of American Airlines' tired uncomfortable, loud, you name it, ATRs. Air Botswana's new ATRs have nice leather like seats with plenty of leg room and the plane has rather good sound insulation. We were served peanuts and spiced beef jerky that I really enjoyed.

I was impressed and we were on time.

Great TR, thanks for sharing!