Maun Airport is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

serving the town of Maun in the North-West District of

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

. 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 The Okavango Delta (or Okavango Grassland; formerly spelled "Okovango" or "Okovanggo") in Botswana is a swampy inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an altitude of 930–1,000 m in the central part of the en ...

and the

Moremi Game Reserve Moremi Game Reserve is a protected area in Botswana. It lies on the eastern side of the Okavango Delta and was named after Chief Moremi of the BaTawana tribe. Moremi was designated as a game reserve, rather than a national park, when it was c ...

. Many tour operators offer chartered flights over the Delta and to Botswana destinations such as the

Makgadikgadi Pans The Makgadikgadi Pan (Tswana pronunciation ), a salt pan situated in the middle of the dry savanna of north-eastern Botswana, is one of the largest salt flats in the world. The pan is all that remains of the formerly enormous Lake Makgadikg ...

, one of the largest seasonal wetlands in Africa. There are also daily scheduled flights to destinations in

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Wilderness Air Wilderness Air, formerly known as Sefofane Air Charter, is an air charter company headquartered in Botswana, Africa. History The company was founded in 1991 as Sefofane Air Charter by Neil Lumsden and Suzy Lumsden operating one Cessna 206. The ...

operates regular charter flights from its Windhoek-Eros-hub, Namibia to Maun.

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 The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early United Kingdom, British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the wor ...

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 Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

via

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...

Airlink Airlink is an airline based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its main business is to provide services between smaller, under-served towns and larger hub airports. It has since expanded to offer flights on larger, mainline routes. The airline has ...

commenced direct flights between Cape Town and Maun starting in March 2016. In October 2016,

Air Namibia Air Namibia (Pty) Limited, which traded as Air Namibia, was the national airline of Namibia, headquartered in the country's capital, Windhoek. It operated scheduled domestic, regional, and international passenger and cargo services, having its ...

suspended scheduled flights to Maun Airport. In May 2018 government officials confirmed their commitment to refurbish and upgrade the existing airport building.

Airlines and destinations

Accidents

In March 2000 a Cessna 414 crashed on its way from

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...

to Maun. The pilot and a passenger walked for over to find help.

References

External links

* Air Botswana (2009
''Official Flight Schedule''
* C. Michael Hogan (2008
''Makgadikgadi'', The Megalithic Portal
ed. A. Burnham * Maun Airport (MUB/FBMN) (2008)
AZWorldAirports.com

Air Namibia axes Windhoek to Maun route

Maun in Helipaddy
* {{authority control Airports in Botswana North-West District (Botswana)

Early history 1925-1939

Airlines and destinations

Accidents

See also

References

External links