Xakanaxa Old Airport

The airport was closed and relocated for operational, safety, and reliability reasons. The old airstrip (BW-0031) was known to be shorter, with a rougher surface, and was situated in an area more prone to becoming waterlogged and unusable during the Okavango Delta's annual flood season. The new Xakanaxa Airport (FBXA) was built on slightly higher, better-drained ground with a longer and better-maintained runway to provide safer and more reliable year-round access for the safari lodges in the area.

The site of the former airport is now abandoned and inactive. Satellite imagery shows the faint outline of the old runway, but it is significantly overgrown with grass, shrubs, and small trees. It is unmaintained and is being naturally reclaimed by the surrounding savanna ecosystem within the Moremi Game Reserve. It is completely unusable for any aviation purposes.

Xakanaxa Old Airport was a classic and vital African bush strip that played a key role in the development of high-end, low-volume tourism in the Moremi Game Reserve. For many years, it served as the primary air access point for guests and supplies flying into premier safari camps such as Xakanaxa Camp and Camp Moremi. Operations consisted exclusively of light charter aircraft (e.g., Cessna 206, Cessna 208 Caravan, GA8 Airvan) flying in from Maun and other bush camps, making it an essential logistical hub in a very remote region.

There are no plans or prospects for reopening the Xakanaxa Old Airport. Its function has been entirely and permanently replaced by the modern and superior Xakanaxa Airport (FBXA). Reopening the old, degraded strip would be redundant, economically unviable, and environmentally disruptive, offering no advantages over the current operational airport.