Namibia Air’s December lift-off awaits aircraft, licence

Namibia Air has less than two months to secure aircraft and complete the certification needed to carry passengers commercially if it is to meet the promised December take-off.Works minister Veikko Nekundi has repeatedly said Namibia Air would undertake its first domestic commercial flight at the end of the year.The airline cleared one major hurdle in August when it received scheduled and non-scheduled air service licences from the Transportation Commission of Namibia. However, the licences alone do not authorise the airline to carry passengers commercially.Works ministry executive director Jonas Sheelongo told Namibian Sun last week that the ministry would issue a formal response on Namibia Air's progress towards a December launch, but none had been received by the time of publication.When the air service licences were granted in August, the ministry said the air operator certificate (AOC) process involved five stages and was expected to take about 90 days.The funding to acquire or lease aircraft had not yet been secured at the time, and Cabinet had not made a final decision on the proposed funding arrangements.Sheelongo, who was then serving as interim chairperson of Namibia Air, said acquiring aircraft could take between one and six months depending on availability.No aircraft at application stageNamibia Air’s application published in the Government Gazette in July showed that the airline did not own or lease aircraft at that stage.Its proposed fleet comprised four Embraer ERJ145 aircraft and three Embraer E170 or E175 aircraft, which would be used to establish domestic services before the airline expanded into regional routes.The air service licences granted in August are valid for five years, but the AOC remains critical because it is the Namibia Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) certification that establishes whether an airline has the aircraft, personnel, operating systems and technical capability to conduct commercial flights safely.Doubts growIndependent Patriots for Change shadow works minister Nelson Kalangula doubts that the outstanding work can be completed before December.“I indicated that there is no way that this will take form and the aeroplane will be airborne by the first week of December,” he told Namibian Sun this week.Kalangula claimed the AOC process could take between six months and a year and warned that the certification process should not be rushed simply to meet the December deadline.He claimed that Namibia Air representatives had approached the NCAA in an attempt to speed up the AOC process.Namibian Sun could not independently verify that claim, while the NCAA had not responded by the time of publication to questions about whether it had been approached to expedite the process.Kalangula questioned whether the airline could assemble the aircraft, personnel and management structure needed to start flying within the next two months.“And up to now, there are no aircraft that are bought," he said, adding that "pilots need to be trained".He referred to the wider recruitment that would be required before commercial operations could begin.He questioned the absence of publicly available information about the airline’s management and operational headquarters.“We don't know up to now where the Namibia Air offices [will be]," he said. "And we don't know who will be the responsible person for that airline."The ministry previously said that no executive or leadership appointments had been made, with an inter-ministerial technical committee overseeing preparations for the establishment of the airline.Ethiopian Airlines talksNamibia Air’s proposed operating model has also come under scrutiny following government’s engagement with Ethiopian Airlines over possible technical cooperation.The discussions have covered possible assistance with certification, training, maintenance, aircraft sourcing and development of the airline’s business plan. No binding agreement has been publicly announced.Ethiopian Airlines subsequently proposed an operating model based on ATR 72-600 turboprop aircraft, differing from Namibia Air’s original plan to operate Embraer regional jets.Kalangula questioned why government was considering another operating model after conducting its own feasibility study.Government initially budgeted N$20 million for work associated with the Namibia Air feasibility study, but Nekundi told parliament in June that less than 4% of the N$20 million budgeted, or under N$800 000, had been spent.The minister said the work was undertaken by an inter-ministerial team rather than an external consultant.Kalangula raised questions about the institutional relationship between the ministry establishing Namibia Air and the NCAA, which falls within the works and transport portfolio but is responsible for certifying the airline.“I asked a written question: how they are applying for a licence themselves when they are the custodians of the authority. That is like applying for a licence to yourself,” he argued.Kalangula described the arrangement as “double dipping” and said it raised a potential conflict between the government’s desire to establish the airline and the regulator’s responsibility to determine whether it meets the requirements for commercial operations.The ministry and NCAA had not responded to questions by the time of publication.

Namibia Air’s December lift-off awaits aircraft, licence

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-07

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Namibia Air’s December lift-off awaits aircraft, licence

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Namibian Sun 2026-10-07

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