Air Namibia

Air Namibia (Pty) Limited, which trades as Air Namibia, is the national airline of Namibia, headquartered in Windhoek. It operates scheduled domestic, regional, and international passenger and cargo services, having its international hub in Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport and a domestic hub at the smaller Windhoek Eros Airport.

As of December 2013, the carrier is wholly owned by the Namibian government. Air Namibia is a member of both the International Air Transport Association and the African Airlines Association.

History

The origins of the airline trace back to November 1946 (1946-11), when South West Air Transport (SWAT) was established. Using Ryan Navion equipment, this carrier started operations in 1949 linking Windhoek with Grootfontein. Charter and cargo flights were also undertaken. In 1950, the company started feeder services for South African Airways. By 1958, a fleet of seven Ryan Navions and one de Havilland Dragon Rapide served a route network that included Grootfontein, Tsumeb, Otjiwarongo, Outjo, Swakopmund, Walvis Bay and Windhoek. On 26 March 1959, SWAT merged with Oryx Aviation —a small passenger airline established three years earlier— to form South West Airways (Afrikaans: Suidwes Lugdiens). IATA membership was gained later that year.

Two Cessna 205s were purchased, entering the fleet in December 1962 (1962-12) and eventually replacing the Navions. Namibair, set up as a charter airline in 1963, became a subsidiary company of Suidwes Lugdiens in 1966. In 1969, Safmarine acquired a 50% stake in Suidwes, eventually boosting its participation to 85%. At February 1970 (1970-02), the Suidwes fleet comprised four Aztecs, one Beaver, two Cherokees, one Cessna 182, one Cessna 205, one Cessna 206, one Cessna 402, three DC-3s and five Twin Comanches; at this time the carrier had 45 employees. A Fairchild-Hiller FH-227 was acquired in 1974, and a Convair 580 was later incorporated into the fleet to perform charter flights carrying miners to their jobs in Grootfontein and Tsumeb.

Suidwes merged into Namib Air on 1 December 1978. The South-West African government became the major shareholder in 1982. Following the creation of the South-West Africa National Transport Corporation in 1986, Namib Air took over all air transport operations in the country. The airline was designated as the country's flag carrier in 1987. That year, two 19-seater Beech 1900s were bought. In 1988, the company was incorporated into the Namibian state-owned holding company Transnamib. On 6 August 1989, a Boeing 737-200 leased from South African Airways that flew the Windhoek–Johannesburg route inaugurated the carrier's jet era. In October the same year, a third Beech 1900 was incorporated into the fleet.

An Air Namibia Boeing 747-400 departs Frankfurt Airport in 2001.

Services to Lusaka and Luanda were launched in 1990 and 1991, respectively. Following the independence of the country, the company was re-christened again, adopting the current name of Air Namibia in October 1991 (1991-10). The early 1990s also saw the launch of long-haul services to Europe: the Windhoek–Frankfurt route started being flown in 1991 twice a week using a Boeing 747SP, and London was included into the route network in 1992, with a non-stop flight. In 1993, services to Frankfurt, which were served twice-weekly, were also extended to London. Air Namibia was re-absorbed into the Namibian government after an injection of US$3,700,000 (equivalent to $5,371,723 in 2021) in 1998, following the precarious cash position it was led into by TransNamib.

By April 2000 (2000-04), employment was 418. At this time, Air Namibia operated a Boeing 727-100, two Boeing 737-200 Advanced, one Boeing 747-400 Combi and three Raytheon Beech C that served Cape Town, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, London, Luanda, Luderitz, Lusaka, Maun, Mokuti Lodge, Mpacha, Ondangwa, Oranjemund, Swakopmund, Victoria Falls, Walvis Bay and Windhoek. That year, the airline joined the African Airlines Association.

Destinations

Main article: Air Namibia destinations

As of October 2013, the route network comprised 16 destinations and 17 airports in eight different countries in Africa and Europe, with eight of these destinations being domestic ones. Much of Air Namibia's capacity is deployed on services to South Africa, with Windhoek–Johannesburg and Windhoek–Cape Town being the largest regional routes, as of August 2013.

Codeshare agreements

As of July 2013, Air Namibia has codeshare agreements with the following airlines, which are the current operators on the routes specified:

• Kenya Airways (Johannesburg–Nairobi–Johannesburg, Lusaka–Nairobi–Lusaka)

Fleet

An Air Namibia Airbus A340-300 at Frankfurt Airport in 2013.

Air Namibia acquired a new Boeing 747-400 Combi in April 1999 (1999-04) with financial aid from the U.S. Export Import Bank. Named Welwitschia, the aircraft was handed over by the manufacturer in October that year. The new machine, which had been previously ordered by Asiana but was later cancelled, came to replace the carrier's Boeing 747SP, and was retired in 2004. That year, the carrier started flying the MD-11.

The first of three Embraer ERJ 135s the airline leased from Régional Compagnie Aérienne Européenne, intended to replace the Beechcraft 1900D park, was received in February 2011 (2011-02); likewise, the first of two leased Airbus A319-100s entered the fleet in October the same year. Intended as a replacement for the Boeing 737 fleet, the company ordered another two Airbus A319s in February 2012 (2012-02), in a deal worth US$90 million; in July the same year, the carrier signed an agreement for the lease of two Airbus A330-200s, aimed at replacing the Airbus A340-300s. Of the last two A319s ordered, the first one was incorporated into the fleet in early January 2013 (2013-01).

In September 2013 (2013-09), Air Namibia took delivery of its first Airbus A330-200 in Toulouse.

Current

An Air Namibia Airbus A330-200 at Frankfurt Airport in 2014.

As of August 2014, the Air Namibia fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Air Namibia Fleet

Aircraft	In Fleet	Orders	Passengers
			C	Y	Total
Airbus A319-100	4	—	16	96	112
Airbus A330-200	2	—	30	214	244
Embraer ERJ 135	4	—	—	37	37
Total	10	—

Retired

An Air Namibia McDonnell Douglas MD-11 takes off from Zurich Airport in 2005.

The company previously operated the following equipment:

• Airbus A340-300
• ATR 42
• Beechcraft 1900D
• Boeing 727
• Boeing 737-200
• Boeing 737-200C
• Boeing 737-500
• Boeing 737-800
• Boeing 747SP
• Boeing 747-300
• Boeing 747-400
• Boeing 747-400 Combi
• Boeing 767-300ER
• Cessna 182
• Cessna 210
• Cessna 310
• Cessna 402
• Cessna 404
• Cessna 414
• Convair 580
• Douglas C-47A
• Douglas C-47B
• Douglas C-54A
• Douglas C-54B
• DHC-8-300
• Do328-310 JET
• Douglas DC-4
• Douglas DC-6B
• Fairchild Hiller FH-227
• Fokker F-28-3000
• Fokker F-28-4000
• HS 748 Series 2A
• Indonesian Aerospace CN-235
• McDonnell Douglas MD-11
• Navajo
• Seneca

See also

• List of airlines of Namibia
• Transport in Namibia

External links

• Air Namibia Official website