Turbulence surrounds Swakop airport

A TURBULENT meeting over the state of the Swakopmund Airfield took place at the coastal airport last week.

Aircraft operators at the airport met last Wednesday with leaseholder Brian Roos and his lawyer, as well as the Security Chief in the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), Takis Tassopoulos, to discuss safety, security and operational efficiency at the airport.The media were invited to the meeting, but upon entering were requested to leave ‘as this is not a press conference, nor a public hearing, but a matter between the owner of the airfield and the various stakeholders’, according to Tassopoulus.The Namibian has learned that aircraft operators were not happy with the way Roos has been managing the airport, through which thousands of tourists pass annually.Allegations of increased rental fees, while little maintenance was being carried out, were leveled against Roos.According to complaints, the main runway (there are only two) was closed recently by the DCA because of its poor and dangerous condition, on request by Roos.Various aircraft operators told The Namibian that their operations were sometimes stopped by Roos because of alleged outstanding rental fees. Operators said they were never invoiced for rent by Roos, so they never knew how much they owed.The turbulence between Roos and the aircraft operators has been brewing for five years now, since Roos obtained the airport management lease from the Swakopmund Municipality. Operators spoken to were unanimous in saying that the municipality should not extend Roos’ lease at the airport, but should rather take over operational management itself.At a meeting recently with President Hifikepunye Pohamba, Jannie Klein, chairman of the Swakopmund Microlights Association, called on the President to intervene in the dispute.Pohamba said he would enquire about the state of affairs at the airport. Brian Roos is expected to tender the Swakopmund Municipality for a lease extension this week and one operator at the airfield told The Namibian after the meeting: ‘This was just so he could organise and finalise his tender application. If he gets the tender, he might do some patch-work, but in the long run he’ll probably just continue the way he is now – up the fees and ignore the maintenance.’ Roos told The Namibian that the meeting was about the safety and management of the airfield – not about grievances, contrary to what operators said.’There are 65 users at the airfield. Ninety per cent of them are very happy with the way things are going. It’s only a handful that have grievances and want to make a public scene out of it,’ he said.