Phillip Gaonwe Matante International Airport

Compiled by Bill Gao

Francistown, Francistown (city) (Botswana)

IATA: FRW ICAO: FBPM

Longest Active Runway

9,843 ft

3,000 meters

Field Elevation

3,283 ft

1,001 m MSL

Runway Inventory

2 active

1 closed, Lighted / Paved

Coordinates & Class

-21.1592°, 27.4688°

LARGE AIRPORT

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Multi-Universe Rankings & Statistical Standing

How ranks work →

RunwayFacts Published Dataset

tied #603 of 650

In curated primary commercial index

Global Commercial Universe

#1,098 of 7558

Top 15.9% percentile worldwide

For airports with equal runway length, the worldwide order does not indicate a length difference.

National Standing (Botswana)

#2 of 2 in BW

#2 of 10 in full national registry

vs Large Airport Median

-1.6%

Compared to 10,000 ft baseline

💡 FRW in numbers: 9,843 ft longest runway · tied #603 of 650 published · #1,098 of 7,558 worldwide (top 15.9%) · #2 in Botswana.

🔬 Operational & Aerodrome Engineering Comparative Analysis

Longest runway 8,000–10,499 ft

⛰️

Elevation & National Context

Mid-Altitude Aerodrome (2,000–4,999 ft)

FRW lies at 1,001 m (3,283 ft), #86 of 650 published airports by elevation and 87.2 percentile among 7,558 worldwide. It is 8 ft below the Botswana median (3,291 ft, 2 airports); GBE is highest at 3,299 ft, 16 ft higher than FRW.

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Regional Density & Alternates (100 NM)

0 Qualifying Aerodromes in Vicinity

No published neighbour with a paved runway of 5,000 ft or more within 100 NM of FRW. Nearest published airport: Victoria Falls International Airport (VFA), 206 NM, 13,123 ft (3,280 ft longer than FRW); 3 within 250 NM.

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Runway Inventory & National Standing

Primary Runway: 9,843 ft (3,000 m)

FRW runways: 13/31 9,843 × 148 ft asphalt (asp); 11/29 7,218 × 98 ft asphalt (asp). National standing: #2 of 2 in Botswana; GBE leads by 3,280 ft (13,123 ft). −1.6% vs the 10,000 ft baseline.

🛫 Physical Runway Inventory & Surface Engineering

Runway Designator	Length (ft / m)	Width (ft / m)	Surface Material	Lighting	Status
13/31	9,843 ft (3000 m / 3.000 km)	148 ft (45m)	`Asphalt (ASP)`	✅ Lighted	✅ Active
11/29	7,218 ft (2200 m / 2.200 km)	98 ft (30m)	`Asphalt (ASP)`	✅ Lighted	✅ Active
16/34	4,147 ft (1264 m / 1.264 km)	72 ft (22m)	`GVL`	❌ Unlighted	⛔ Closed

🛡️ Source: OurAirports Open Aviation Database, snapshot 2026-09-01 · Provenance →