Air Namibia resumes international flights

Air Namibia (SW, Windhoek Int’l) has announced it will resume flights from Windhoek Int’l to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo and Cape Town from October 28, 2020, using a 37-seater EMB-135ER. The airline used to operate A319-100s to South Africa but has decided on the lower gauge aircraft due to depressed demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said spokesperson, Twaku Kayofa. He said Air Namibia would increase capacity as demand grew during the upcoming high season summer holidays in the region. He said a non-stop flight (SW723) to Johannesburg would depart 3x weekly. Flights to Cape Town would operate 2x weekly: SW703 non-stop and SW715 via Walvis Bay. The airline has been operating three EMB-135s on domestic routes from Windhoek Eros to Walvis Bay, Ondangwa, Caprivi, and Rundu. Insiders said the resumption of international services became possible after the airline’s fourth EMB-135 became available after undergoing routine maintenance at Air Namibia’s Eros hangar. According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, Air Namibia operates three A319-100s (of which one is in maintenance and two are in storage), with two A330-200s in storage. Interim Chief Executive Officer, Theo Mberirua, in a statement said the resumption of international routes was in line with the airline’s restart plan, following a seven-month-long break due to COVID-19. “Although the airline normally operates an extensive schedule that requires multiple destinations in order to feed the entire network, the move by Air Namibia to breathe new life into these two routes will provide smooth and convenient connections inbound and outbound, connecting Namibia to the world, and the world to Namibia,” he said. Air Namibia joins private Namibian airline FlyWestair (WV, Windhoek Eros) and South Africa’s Airlink (South Africa) (4Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo), which last week both announced new services between Windhoek and Johannesburg. Both airlines also fly between Windhoek and Cape Town; while Airlink also serves Walvis Bay. South African low-cost carrier FlySafair (FA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) has also applied for traffic rights on the Johannesburg-Windhoek route.