Namibia Air is set for its first flight in December, but the national carrier is yet to secure funding and buy aircraft.
The funds to procure or lease the aircraft are still to be made available.
Responding to The Namibian’s questions on where the money to buy the aircraft will come from and whether the Cabinet has approved of it, the Ministry of Works and Transport says: “No final decision has been made.
The Cabinet is yet to consider the matter and pronounce itself on the proposed course of action.”
The airline yesterday received its air service licences, which are valid for five years.
The next process involves receiving an air operating certificate (AOC), which the ministry says it is confident will be obtained before the scheduled takeoff.
However, before this certificate is issued, the airline has to buy aircraft.
Speaking at the handover of the licences yesterday, the board chairperson of the new airline, Jonas Sheelongo, said securing aircraft could take anywhere between one and six months, depending on lease availability.
“It depends on availability, if they are on lease, where the lease is due, and when they will be available,” he said.
Sheelongo said the technical inspection and validation process itself, however, takes less than a month.
“We more or less know which aircraft is where, when they will be available. It’s just a matter of now starting to negotiate. We are now entering into that phase,” he said.
He said aircraft are required during the AOC certification process. This leaves about three months for the airline to buy the aircraft before getting an operating certificate.
“You can’t do AOC without an aircraft.”
In the 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.
The notice says 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 (about N$50 million) each and three Embraer E170 / E175 jets at an estimated cost of US$8 million each (about N$132 million).
FLEXIBLE PRICING
The new airline’s board says the cost of tickets published in the Government Gazette is indicative of one-way fares, excluding taxes.
“What was published is really, at the time of doing the study, what we believe is going to make this airline viable. Those fares are one-way, excluding taxes,” the board says.
Passengers buying tickets would also pay applicable taxes charged by the Namibia Airports Company and other agencies.
The airline will adopt industry-standard dynamic pricing, meaning ticket prices will fluctuate in response to market conditions.
“We will be using industry best practice where it’s dynamic pricing and revenue management,” the board says.
“Fuel prices go up and come down. All those factors will be monitored and will be applied, and they do have an impact on the price we put out in the market.”
Minister of works and transport Veikko Nekundi says he is confident the ministry will be able to launch its first flight in December.
“I am confident in the capabilities of the team that has been working to revive Namibia Air,” he says.
