Masire, former Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Commander, was appointed in February 2016 to lead Air Botswana as board chairman, replacing Nigel Dixon-Warren. In November 2019, the EastAfrican newspaper reported that Air Botswana was in the process of cutting its staff numbers from 450 to 210 people. The airline has been running at a loss for more than a decade, reportedly due to high maintenance costs for its planes. The plans also include outsourcing ground handling services to a new company, yet to be formed. It is expected that the majority of the retrenched workers will be hired by the new ground handling outfit. Corporate affairs Ownership Despite various initiatives to privatise the airline, in whole or in part, Air Botswana remains 100% owned by the Government of Botswana. Business trends Air Botswana has been consistently loss-making for many years. Although the airline is government owned, full annual reports do not appear to be published. Financial results (for years ending 31 March) are published by the Auditor General, and other data in AFRAA reports, as below: Destinations As of June 2019, Air Botswana operated scheduled passenger flights to the following destinations: Codeshare agreement Air Botswana has codeshares with the following airlines: Air Seychelles Qatar Airways Fleet Current fleet , the Air Botswana fleet consisted of the following aircraft: References External links https://www.alternativeairlines.com/air-botswana https://www.hatab.bw/index.php/members-listings/air-charter-airlines/19-members/air-charter-airline-sector/210-air-botswana.html abc.com External links Official website Airlines of Botswana 1972 establishments in Botswana Airlines established in 1972 Government-owned airlines Botswana companies Companies of Gaborone Government-owned companies of Botswana