AirNam dumps Swakop

AIR NAMIBIA is to stop all flights to and from Swakopmund, according to the airline’s new flight schedule, which takes effect at the end of the month.

According to Air Namibia Public Relations Officer Ellison Hijarunguru, the airline decided to drop the loss-making Swakopmund route after “monitoring statistics very closely”. “It just did not make sense for us to continue flying to Swakopmund,” he said.In the meantime, Air Namibia says it will transport passengers from Swakopmund to Walvis Bay to catch flights there.”This is part of the broader rationalisation to make the whole domestic operation profitable,” said Hijarunguru.Although Swakopmund is the prime destination for tourists during the Christmas season, those involved in the tourist industry say they don’t expect the loss of the route to have much of an effect.”The Swakopmund flight was done with small aircraft and it didn’t take a lot of tourists,” said Martin Wiemers, Director of Springbok Atlas.”Nothing’s really lost.”And with flights to Walvis Bay continuing, tourism companies in Swakopmund concur that it doesn’t really matter.”People can still come in through Walvis Bay, so I expect it to have little to no influence on business,” said an employee at a local lodge.”It just did not make sense for us to continue flying to Swakopmund,” he said. In the meantime, Air Namibia says it will transport passengers from Swakopmund to Walvis Bay to catch flights there.”This is part of the broader rationalisation to make the whole domestic operation profitable,” said Hijarunguru. Although Swakopmund is the prime destination for tourists during the Christmas season, those involved in the tourist industry say they don’t expect the loss of the route to have much of an effect.”The Swakopmund flight was done with small aircraft and it didn’t take a lot of tourists,” said Martin Wiemers, Director of Springbok Atlas.”Nothing’s really lost.”And with flights to Walvis Bay continuing, tourism companies in Swakopmund concur that it doesn’t really matter.”People can still come in through Walvis Bay, so I expect it to have little to no influence on business,” said an employee at a local lodge.