AIR Namibia was forced to reschedule flights for close to 120 passengers who had been booked to fly to Germany to accommodate 200 youth leaders travelling to Russia for a festival.
Air Namibia spokesperson Paul Nakawa yesterday confirmed to that they had to change the flights because the plane had to be used to fly the youth.
The group of Namibian youth will attend the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students which is set to take place from 14 to 22 October.
The decision to accommodate the politically-connected group of youth leaders forced the airline to arrange alternative flights for the 120 passengers who had booked their flights earlier.
The youth leaders chose the A330 which accommodates 244 people, and is used on the Windhoek-Frankfurt route.
Nakawa said commercial passengers who could not be accommodated last night will be flown in today’s scheduled flight to Frankfurt.
“Passengers have been informed. Air Namibia will cover the accommodation costs in this instance. This is standard industry practice,” he added.
Nakawa said the government would be charged for the positioning flight from Sochi to Frankfurt, and vice versa.
“These costs include airport taxes, the positioning of the aircraft, fuel, maintenance, overflying and navigation, landing and parking,” he explained.
The spokesperson said the youth asked for quotations from other airlines.
“Air Namibia’s quotation was the most competitive and affordable as we have the shortest positioning time – because Air Namibia will fly directly to Sochi,” he said.
“Air Namibia as the national airline of the Republic of Namibia is proud to be offering the air travel service to the youth, through the National Youth Council (NYC), to attend this important conference.
“This demonstrates true patriotism, and we are proud that they chose Air Namibia as their carrier of choice,” he continued.
Swapo Party Youth League secretary Ephraim Nekongo confirmed that the group of 200 youth delegates had chosen the airline.
He said the delegation is made up of young people from all political backgrounds.
Sources at the NYC said the decision to pick Air Namibia came after a plan to use Ethiopia Airlines failed.
According to people familiar with the transaction, around 80 youths were booked with the Ethiopian Airlines. But their flights were cancelled at the last minute because the government failed to pay.
It is unclear how much the trip will cost. The figure being speculated is around N$5 million, while others said it could be more.
The decision to pump over N$5 million into a short-term trip for 200 youth leaders comes at a time when the government failed to pump a cent into the Namibia Premier League, which has been grounded because of a lack of money.
It cost around N$15 million to fund the premier league for one season.
The Namibian understands that controversial state-owned diamond company Namdia paid N$1 million for the youth trip to Russia.
The chairperson of the preparatory committee for the delegation’s participation this year, Neville Andre Iitope, declined to disclose what it will cost the delegation to take part in the festival this year.
He, however, said that it was “much much” less than the N$10 million spent on sending 265 delegates to Equador in 2013.
Youth minister Jerry Ekandjo said the ministry did not give the delegation a single cent, and only assisted in asking the finance minister for funds on behalf of the NYC.
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