Air Namibia
| Air Namibia | |
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| IATA code : | SW |
| ICAO code : | NMB |
| Call sign : | NAMIBIA |
| Founding: | 1947 |
| Seat: |
Windhoek , Namibia
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| Turnstile : | |
| Home airport : | Windhoek-Hosea Kutako |
| Company form: | State company |
| IATA prefix code : | 186 |
| Management: | Elia Erastus (interim since February 11, 2020) |
| Number of employees: | 600–700 (2009/2010) |
| Sales: | N $ 1.1 billion (2009/2010) |
| Passenger volume: | ~ 550,000 (2015/16) |
| Frequent Flyer Program : | reward $ |
| Fleet size: | 9 (10) |
| Aims: | National and international |
| Website: | www.airnamibia.com |
Air Namibia is the national airline and flag carrier of Namibia , based in Windhoek and based at Hosea Kutako International Airport .
history
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The airline was founded in 1947 under the name South West Air Transport . In 1959 it was merged with Oryx Aviation under the name Suidwes Lugdiens ( Afrikaans for Southwest Air Service ). The small airline Namib Air became a subsidiary of Suidwes Lugdiens in 1966. In 1978 the name of the entire group was changed to Namib Air .
In 1982 the South African government acquired the majority of the shares and declared Namib Air the main airline of South West Africa , which was then administered by South Africa . In 1989 the first direct flights with the Boeing 737 took place between Windhoek , Johannesburg and Cape Town . Namibia's independence in 1990 made it possible to expand flight operations, and Frankfurt am Main has been served since this year .
The airline has had its current name Air Namibia since 1991.
In 1990 a Boeing 747SP was leased from South African Airways to serve long-haul destinations . This machine was replaced in 1998 by a Boeing 767-300 . In 1999 Air Namibia acquired a Boeing 747-400M Combi ; In addition to passengers, freight could also be loaded. When this machine proved to be too big and therefore too uneconomical, it was sold and replaced by two leased McDonnell Douglas MD-11s , which in turn were only a few months later by two Airbus A340-300s leased from BCI .
In mid-2009 the flights to London Gatwick were suspended; since then, Frankfurt am Main has been the company's only European destination.
Since mid-December 2009 Air Namibia has been offering its new, fully automated frequent flyer program called reward $ . It is based on the accumulation of miles and thus corresponds, including the necessary registration with Air Namibia, to the usual frequent flyer programs of the major international airlines. At the same time, and until January 2010, Air Namibia offered a manual program based on collecting boarding passes and enabling discounts or upgrades.
At the end of January 2011, Air Namibia announced that two brand new Airbus A319-100s would replace the two Boeing 737s on regional routes. These were delivered in January 2013. It is the first aircraft owned by Air Namibia in around 20 years. In mid-March 2012 it was also announced that the two Airbus A340-300s will be replaced by two Airbus A330-200s . In September 2013 one of these aircraft was delivered to the new owner.
On June 16, 2014, Air Namibia was about to expire its operating license by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) because management did not renew it in time. A respite was granted at short notice and the license did not ultimately expire. In this context, the managing director and airport operations manager of Air Namibia were dismissed. Swiss aviation expert René Gsponer took over management of the airline on June 28, 2014 . He was previously COO . He was removed from office at the end of July 2015 and Mandi Samson was appointed as acting managing director on August 12, 2015 . She gave up her office in March 2019 and was replaced on an interim basis by CCO Xavier Masule. He resigned from the post of interim CEO on February 10, 2020. CHRO Elia Erastus became the new acting managing director .
In February 2020, Air Namibia discontinued what was once the most lucrative (from 1998 to 2015) connection from Windhoek to Luanda in Angola .
On July 6, 2020, the Ministry of Transport announced the suspension of Air Namibia's license from July 9, 2020. The company has until July 23, 2020 [obsolete] to raise the necessary financial resources. Otherwise the licenses should be permanently revoked. The upper court in Windhoek approved Air Namibia in an urgent procedure on the night of 9 July and allowed Air Namibia to continue operations for the time being.
Financial situation
Air Namibia is fully state-owned and can only continue to operate through financial injections from the government of Namibia . The government justifies the payments to the loss-making airline with the importance of Air Namibia for the important tourism sector in order to minimize high dependency on foreign airlines.
In 2007, the airline was supported with N $ 538.6 million , with which, among other things, an overdraft was redeemed. In fiscal year 2009/2010 it should probably have been around N $ 100 million. On October 7, 2009, Air Namibia published its 2007 annual report two years late. This shows that Air Namibia had accumulated debts of more than N $ 100 million in the 2006/2007 financial year. In 2006 the net loss was still N $ 221 million. Due to the financial situation, no dividends were distributed. The annual report also shows that by March 2007 Air Namibia had accumulated debt of more than 3 billion Namibian dollars . However, sales in the 2007 financial year increased by around 32 percent to 854 million Namibian dollars. The operating costs increased by 11%, so that the operating loss decreased from 325.1 million to 233.4 million Namibian dollars.
On December 2, 2010 it was announced that Air Namibia had used emergency aid amounting to N $ 176 million and bank guarantees amounting to N $ 378 million to ensure flight operations can be ensured.
In 2011, the government grant to Air Namibia was around N $ 80 million. In 2008/2009 sales were already N $ 1.3 billion, dropped to N $ 1.1 billion in 2009/10 and should have been an estimated N $ 1.2 billion in 2010/11.
At the end of July 2011, the Namibian parliament approved a further 1.2 billion Namibian dollars for three years to finance a new turnaround plan .
In the 2012/2013 financial year, N $ 500 million has been budgeted for government support. The airline wants to operate profitably from the 2015/2016 financial year.
In February 2013, it became known through press articles that Air Namibia's financial difficulties apparently had other effects, not just the cancellation of numerous scheduled flights to Frankfurt am Main. The Accra route is also to be canceled for cost reasons. According to unconfirmed information, the airline is three months behind schedule with the payment of the employer's share for the pension fund of its employees.
In the two financial years 2013/14 and 2014/15, the Namibian government supported Air Namibia with almost 2 billion Namibian dollars.
In the months of July, August and September 2014 Air Namibia was able to record an operating profit.
Government financial support for Air Namibia is given for 2014 to 2017 at 1.8 billion Namibia dollars .
For the financial years 2015/16 and 2016/17 Air Namibia is to receive a total of 1.93 billion Namibia dollars in subsidies. In the three financial years 2016 to 2019, Air Namibia will receive around 750 million Namibian dollars in subsidies annually.
In early 2018, the airline's monthly operating costs rose to N $ 300 million. In order to maintain flight operations, the sale of the two own aircraft was planned, as neither the state nor private banks wanted to provide further money.
In September 2018, Air Namibia submitted the annual financial statements for the past 17 years. A financial injection of 2.5 to 3 billion Namibian dollars could put the company on its own feet. In total, subsidies have amounted to at least six billion Namibian dollars over the past 18 years.
Since the beginning of 2019, a court ruling has set Air Namibia funds in Germany to settle debts of 25 million euros against the Belgian Challenge Air .
The tense financial situation was also shown by the grounding of three of the four Airbus A319s in June 2019. The background was unpaid bills at a South African maintenance company. Only two out of nine regional routes are profitable.
In August 2019, the government of Namibia confirmed that the liquidation of the airline was the most likely of four possibilities due to the immense costs. A month later, strategic or other partnerships with Lufthansa , South African Airways or Ethiopian Airlines were promised.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the situation of Air Namibia deteriorated drastically again. According to estimates, the airline would lose the equivalent of around 59 million euros. President Hage Geingob said on June 4, 2020 that the airline had to be finally liquidated because it was not making any profits and always needed new funds. Further details on the possible liquidation were not given.
Destinations
In addition to domestic destinations, Air Namibia also serves international destinations in southern Africa from Windhoek , ie in Botswana , Zambia , Zimbabwe and South Africa . The route to Frankfurt am Main, currently the only connection to Europe, is served up to daily. The suspension of the route is recommended by the Namibian Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of State Enterprises in April 2017 due to an annual loss of up to 300 million Namibian dollars .
On November 19, 2017, three weekly direct flights between Ondangwa and Walvis Bay began, which were discontinued in March 2019.
Route planning
Air Namibia has announced further connections to Angola and, for the first time, to Kenya and Turkey (as of February 2017).
In April 2017 Air Namibia became one of only six airlines in Africa to receive the rights to fly to the United States of America . However, this right should first be exercised through codeshare and possible wet lease agreements. In addition, in May 2017, three further goals in Africa were promised for 2017.
On August 22, 2017, Air Namibia announced the start of a connection via Lagos in Nigeria to Accra in Ghana . The connection was established on June 29, 2018. This route was canceled on May 2, 2019.
In May 2018, three new destinations were announced in Angola: Ondjiva , Moçâmedes and Benguela . In October 2018, four new routes were announced with Nairobi in Kenya , Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo , Maputo in Mozambique and Libreville in Gabon . There are also plans to directly connect Accra in Ghana with London .
None of the planned routes were realized by February 2020.
Since 2013, there is a code-sharing agreement with the Kenyan Kenya Airways .
Under an agreement with Lufthansa , London Heathrow and five other airports in Great Britain have also been served since February 18, 2014 with adapted transfer times. In addition, the entire Lufthansa network in Germany can be used.
Since February 13, 2015 (with flight schedule 2015/16) there has been a partnership with Condor for connecting flights by Air Namibia in southern Africa. This was converted into a codeshare agreement at the beginning of 2017.
Codeshare agreements with Ethiopian Airlines and Turkish Airlines have existed since the beginning of 2017 .
fleet
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As of March 2020, the Air Namibia fleet consists of nine aircraft with an average age of 13.1 years. According to Air Namibia (as of March 2020), as in previous years, the airline has ten aircraft, four Embraer 135 and Airbus A319 and two Airbus A330.
| Aircraft type | number | ordered | Remarks | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319-100 | 3 | 112 (16/96) |
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| Airbus A330-200 | 2 | Leased in 2013 for 12 years (until 2025). Early return announced in August 2019. |
244 (30/214) |
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| Embraer ERJ 135ER | 4th | 37 (- / 37) |
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| total | 9 | - |
In May 2017, the Russian manufacturer Sukhoi announced that Air Namibia had ordered three Sukhoi Superjet 100s . A little later Air Namibia denied an order.
- Former fleet
In the past, Air Namibia operated Airbus A340-300 , Beechcraft 1900 , Boeing 737 , Boeing 767 and 747 among others . Air Namibia also briefly used Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft from Westair Aviation in wet lease in 2018 .
staff
Air Namibia uses 90 percent of its pilots (as of August 2018) on Namibians. 10 percent of the pilots are foreigners who are temporarily employed for a maximum of six months. 20 female pilots fly for Air Namibia, 40 percent of the pilots come from previously disadvantaged population groups. The airline spends 30 million Namibian dollars a year on pilot training.
Awards
In 2016, Air Namibia received the ACSA Feather Award from the South African airport company Airports Company South Africa ( ACSA ) for Johannesburg and / or Cape Town for the 12th time as “Best Regional Airline” according to customer surveys.
In October 2015 Air Namibia was named “Best Regional Airline” in Zimbabwe. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, Air Namibia received Skytrax 's award as the second best regional airline in Africa.
In August 2014, Air Namibia was one of the ten most punctual airlines in the world.
In September 2016, Air Namibia was ranked 9th among the most popular German airlines in economy class.
In December 2016, Air Namibia received the award for “Best Airline in Africa” at the Cheapflight Travel Awards in South Africa.
Incidents
Up to and including December 2019, there were no incidents by Air Namibia in which people were killed or aircraft were irreparably damaged.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ AZ Online - Airbus duo to be replaced, March 19, 2012, accessed on March 19, 2012
- ↑ AZ Online - A330-200 received: Namibia is now flying modern, October 2, 2013 ( memento of October 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on October 12, 2013
- ↑ Hitradio Namibia - Nachrichten am Morgen, June 17, 2014 ( Memento of August 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on June 17, 2014
- ↑ Hitradio Namibia - Nachrichten am Morgen, June 30, 2014 ( memento of July 3, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) accessed on June 30, 2014
- ↑ AZ Online - Crisis Team for Air Namibia, June 30, 2014 ( memento of July 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on June 30, 2014
- ↑ Allgemeine Zeitung - Lawyer leads Air Namibia, August 13, 2015 ( Memento from August 16, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Samson resigns from Air Namibia. Namibia Press Agency , March 13, 2019.
- ↑ Air Namibia appoints Elia Erastus as Acting CEO. Air Namibia, February 11, 2020.
- ^ Morning news. Hitradio Namibia, February 5, 2020.
- ^ Suspension of Air Namibia's Air Service Licenses. Ministry of Works and Transport, Transport Commission, July 6, 2020.
- ^ Namibia to ground national carrier's license over cash hole. Reuters, July 8, 2020.
- ^ Breaking News. Paul Nakawa, Air Namibia, July 9, 2020.
- ↑ a b AZ Online - Red Numbers at Air Namibia, October 7, 2009 ( Memento from March 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ AZ Online - Financial Reports Coming Soon, July 24, 2009 ( Memento of March 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ The Namibian - AirNam N $ 3b in Red, October 7, 2009 ( Memento of March 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Die Republikein - Nood-miljoene vir Air Namibia, December 2, 2010
- ^ The Namibian - Budget balloons, March 31, 2010 ( Memento of March 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ allafrica.com - Another trillion for Airnam turnaround 22 July, 2011.
- ↑ The Villager - AirNam courts the region 17 March, 2012. retrieved 20 March 2012
- ↑ AZ Online - Crisis Meeting with Air Namibia, February 1, 2013
- ↑ The Namibian - AirNam's biggest bail-out ever, March 5, 2013 ( Memento from April 13, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) accessed on March 8, 2013
- ↑ a b Hitradio Namibia - Nachrichten am Morgen, October 20, 2014 ( Memento from October 31, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) accessed on October 31, 2014
- ↑ The Namibian - AirNam audit report under wraps, February 18, 2015 ( Memento from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on February 20, 2015
- ↑ The Namibian - Govt to spend billions on SOEs, April 7, 2015 ( Memento from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on April 7, 2015
- ↑ Estimates of Revenue, Income and Expenditure 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2019. Ministry of Finance, March 2016, p. 4
- ↑ Air Namibia edges towards collapse. Windhoek Observer, March 2, 2018.
- ↑ September 19, 2018 - News in the evening. Hitradio Namibia, September 19, 2018.
- ↑ Air Namibia did not ask for anything. Allgemeine Zeitung , September 21, 2018.
- ↑ Air Namibia breaks silence on its attached assets. , The Villager, January 24, 2019.
- ^ Morning news. Hitradio Namibia, June 10, 2019.
- ↑ a b c Air Namibia looks to exit A330 ops; Gov't engages Castlelake. ch-aviation , August 8, 2019.
- ↑ LUFTHANSA GEÏNTERESSEERD IN AIR NAMIBIA. Luchtvaartnieuws.nl, September 5, 2019.
- ↑ Head of State wants to liquidate Air Namibia. In: aeroTELEGRAPH. June 6, 2020, accessed on June 7, 2020 (Swiss Standard German).
- ↑ airnamibia.com - route network & flight schedule accessed on March 18, 2018
- ↑ Air Namibia loose N $ 300m on Frankfurt route. Windhoek Observer, May 12, 2017.
- ↑ Schlettwein doubts AirNam report. , The Namibian , May 18, 2017.
- ↑ AIR NAMIBIA CONNECTS THE NORTH WITH THE COAST. Air Namibia, November 1, 2017.
- ↑ Flight frequency not increased. Allgemeine Zeitung , March 25, 2019.
- ↑ Hitradio Namibia - Nachrichten am Morgen, February 10, 2015 ( memento of February 20, 2015 in the web archive archive.today ) accessed on February 20, 2015
- ↑ Air Namibia granted right to fly into US. New Era, May 22, 2017.
- ↑ WINDHOEK - LAGOS - ACCRA ROUTE ANNOUNCEMENT. Press Release, Air Namibia, August 22, 2017.
- ↑ POSTPONEMENT OF COMMENCEMENT DATE FOR WINDHOEK - LAGOS - ACCRA FLIGHTS OPERATION. Air Namibia, February 14, 2018.
- ↑ AIR NAMIBIA SUSPENDS WINDHOEK - LAGOS - ACCRA ROUTE. Air Namibia, May 24, 2019.
- ↑ October 25, 2018 - News in the evening. Hitradio Namibia, October 25, 2018.
- ↑ Kenya Airways signs code-share agreement with Air Namibia. Air Namibia, August 3, 2013.
- ↑ tourismupdate.co.za - Air Namibia and Lufthansa sign interline agreement ( memento from February 18, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) accessed on February 18, 2014
- ↑ Hitradio Namibia - Nachrichten am Abend, February 13, 2015 ( Memento from February 20, 2015 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ AIR NAMIBIA CONCLUDES CODESHARE AGREEMENT WITH CONDOR. Namibia Economist, March 9, 2017.
- ↑ Ethiopian Signs Codeshare Agreement with Air Namibia. Ethiopian Airlines, March 1, 2017.
- ↑ Air Namibia & Turkish Airlines have signed a codeshare agreement. Air Namibia, February 7, 2017.
- ↑ Air Namibia Fleet Details and History. In: planespotters.net. Retrieved March 9, 2020 .
- ^ Press statement. Air Namibia, March 10, 2020.
- ↑ Air Namibia refutes claims of Russian Super Jets deal. In: Namibian Economist . May 31, 2017. Retrieved October 21, 2017 .
- ↑ airfleets.net - Air Namibia (in English) accessed on July 29, 2009
- ↑ JP airline-fleets international, various years
- ↑ Air Namibia secures wet-leased ERJ-145 capacity. ch-aviation, July 9, 2018.
- ↑ Over 90% of Air Namibia's pilots are Namibian. The Patriot, August 24, 2018.
- ↑ Hitradio Namibia - Nachrichten am Mittag, December 6, 2014 ( Memento from December 6, 2014 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ Air Namibia takes home another award. The Namibian, October 9, 2015, p. 26
- ↑ AirNamibia voted second best Regional Airline in Africa !. Air Namibia, July 19, 2016.
- ↑ World's Best Regional Airlines 2018. World Airline Awards. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ↑ The best airlines of 2016. Manager Magazin, September 22, 2016.
- ↑ ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS OF THE CHEAPFLIGHTS SOUTH AFRICA TRAVEL AWARDS. Cheapflights ZA. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
- ↑ Accident statistics Air Namibia , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on December 10, 2019.