Air Nam spreads it wings

Air Namibia may start flying to Nairobi, Kenya next year if all the hurdles are overcome, acting managing director Mandi Samson confirmed at a stakeholder engagement held yesterday. Apart from Nairobi, the airline also raised the possibility of extending its route network to also include Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Brazzaville, Maputo in Mozambique and Libreville in Gabon.Air Namibia recently expanded its route network with the inclusion of flights to Lagos, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana, while legs to Gaborone, Botswana and Durban, South Africa were also introduced last year.This is all part of the airline's plan to grow its business and utilise two Airbus 330s more efficiently, Samson said at the engagement.She also said Air Namibia was looking at concluding code share agreements with a number of regional and international airlines that include South African Airways (SAA), United Airlines, Egypt Air and Lufthansa. This, she said, would open up the airline to becoming a member of the Star Alliance group.If Air Namibia's bid to conclude code share agreements and join the Star Alliance network succeeds, it would then become part of a grouping of 27 major airlines that actively cooperate. This would also open up Air Namibia to bigger marketing and branding, while facilitating inter-airline travel via the codeshare agreements. The airline is also poised to release its audited financial results for the period 1998 to 2015. Air Namibia was reabsorbed into government in 1998 and no audited financial results have ever been made public.This follows the first-ever annual general meeting held by the airline. The financial results will be tabled in the National Assembly by Air Namibia's line minister, John Mutorwa from the works and transport ministry, and made public at a date yet to be determined.One issue of concern for Samson, however, was that major airlines were flying into Hosea Kutako International Airport, including KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Qatar Airways, Ethiopian Airways and Eurowings, Lufthansa's subsidiary airline. The issue of concern is that these airlines were effectively taking away Windhoek-Frankfurt business from Air Namibia.Samson felt the issue of economic regulation had to be looked at.Defending her position, she asked: “Has excess capacity been brought [by these airlines]?”As a consequence of the four airlines now flying into Namibia, Air Namibia had seen a reduction in its market share on its Windhoek-Frankfurt route, with airline only carrying 221 409 passengers or a total of 59% of the entire market share on this route.On the local front, Samson mentioned that Air Namibia was now servicing its four Embraer 135 jets on its own - a first for the airline.OGONE TLHAGE

Air Nam spreads it wings

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Namibian Sun 2026-02-25

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Air Nam spreads it wings

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Namibian Sun 2026-02-25

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