The government, through Namibia Air, is planning on acquiring seven aircraft valued at N$594 million for the new airline.
Namibia Air is scheduled to launch by late 2026, succeeding the liquidated Air Namibia.
In a Government Gazette published last week, it is revealed that Namibia Air has applied for licences to run both scheduled and charter flights across Namibia, Africa, and internationally.
According to the notice, the company has calculated a market size of 800 000 round-trip passengers across its domestic and regional routes.
To serve this market, the airline plans to buy seven aircraft: four Embraer ERJ 145 jets at an estimated cost of US$3 million (N$49.56 million) each and three Embraer E170 / E175 jets at an estimated cost of US$8 million each (N$132.16 million).
Minister of works and transport Veikko Nekundi last year told Desert FM the launch of the new airline is slated for this year.
He said the government had not yet decided whether to buy or lease aircraft, and a decision would only be made after economic analysis.
“Once we have analysed all those economic metrics, we will again update the public,” he said.
Nekundi said former Air Namibia employees may be considered for employment at Namibia Air if they have the right skills and experience.
The proposed scheduled services connect Windhoek to various domestic hubs like Ondangwa, Lüderitz and Walvis Bay, alongside major regional cities like Johannesburg, Cape Town and Luanda.
The airline has provided proposed tariffs, but exact pricing is yet to be decided.
“The airline will use dynamic pricing and revenue management per industry best practice, meaning fare ranges will apply and figures shown above are target averages,” the notice reads.
Namibia Air is being established more than five years after the liquidation of Air Namibia in March 2021 after no opposing papers were filed against an application brought by the Namibia Airports Company (NAC).
The airline owed the company N$714 million in outstanding aeronautical and ground-handling charges.
At the time of its liquidation, Air Namibia had assets valued at N$1.04 billion against liabilities of nearly N$5.4 billion, highlighting the extent of its financial distress.
The government said at the time that the airline had accumulated losses of more than N$10 billion over the previous decade, making it financially unsustainable. The closure resulted in hundreds of job losses and ended Namibia’s direct national airline operations.
At the time of its collapse, Air Namibia’s fleet consisted of four A319-100s (two owned and two leased from Deucalion Aviation), two A330-200s leased from Castlelake, four owned E135s, and one B737-500.
Since the airline’s closure, the government has explored several options to restore a national carrier.
Start-up airline Fly Etosha sought to fill the gap, but failed to obtain an operating licence, while discussions were also held with Ethiopian Airlines on a possible partnership.
Neither initiative materialised.
