Kalahari Airways (Gaborone) is a Botswana-based start-up that intends to offer flights from Cape Town International, South Africa to London Gatwick via Gaborone, Botswana using three ex-Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) B747-400s, The African Aviation Tribune reports. According to the Gaborone-based firm, it aims to attract the growing Botswana-bound business and tourist market by cutting out "stressful" stopovers in Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, Gaborone's & Maun's main feeder hub. So far, one B747-400 has reportedly been acquired with a crowdfunding initiative having now been set up to help fund the purchase of a further two. "I decided to try crowdfunding having found lots of encouragement for my project but no funding other than my own, due to the ongoing reluctance by Venture Capital Investors to invest in high risk areas in the current economic climate," said CEO Denis Coghlan. Once acquired, maintenance will be outsourced to SAA Technical in Johannesburg. Botswana last saw direct service to Europe with British Airways (BA, London Heathrow) in the late 90s, with national carrier Air Botswana (BP, Gaborone) itself having considered the acquisition of a used 777 with which to commence international routes.