New NAC board upbeatThe airports company says the arrival of three new international airlines in Namibia presents massive opportunities for growth. Addresses arrival of foreign airlines The new Namibia Airports Company (NAC) was announced yesterday, shortly after being appointed by the minister of works and transport. The new board chairperson, who is a lawyer and managing director of Econo Investments, Rodger Kauta, introduced the new board members at a press briefing held by NAC to address the arrival of large international airlines at Hosea Kutako International Airport.
The deputy chairperson of the board is National Housing Enterprise accountant Beverly Gawanas-Vugs, while the other members are Rudolph Rittman (engineer), Lesenda Mohamed (economist) and Ipupa Kasheeta (human resources and business strategist).
The previous board was steered by Ndeuhala Katonyala as the chairperson, and consisted of Marthinus Boshoff, Frieda Aluteni, Panduleni Shimutwikeni and Agostinho Victor.
The Katonyala board has in the past faced severe criticism over how it handled the rehabilitation of the Mpacha Airport at Katima Mulilo, the Hosea Kutako Airport and the Ondangwa Airport.
Kauta yesterday confirmed the imminent arrival of the three new airlines at Namibia’s flagship airport.
He said Qatar Airways will fly between Doha and Windhoek four times a week, KLM will fly between Amsterdam and Windhoek three times a week, and Ethiopian Airlines will fly three times a week between Addis Ababa and Windhoek.
He said the arrival of these airlines presented massive opportunities for growth.
According to him Namibia is well placed geographically to be a key player in the aviation industry on the continent.
Kauta said having world-class brands such as these at Namibia’s airports is an endorsement of the good operating environment that Namibia has created to attract investment.
He added that Hosea Kutako International has exceeded its capacity and strategies have been developed to manage the increased traffic sustainably through slot allocation.
This does not take away the need for developing a new terminal at Hosea Kutako, though.
“These world-class airlines decided to come to Namibia with our current infrastructure; imagine the possibilities if we are to upgrade the airport.”
He added that NAC, air transport stakeholders and the travelling public stand to benefit from the introduction of new airlines and destinations.
According to him these are new destinations and networks not provided before by other airlines, including Air Namibia.
“One destination in the Middle East, an area not covered before, one new destination in Europe to complement the Frankfurt route and one new African city linked to Windhoek.”
Kauta said the benefits to accrue from these new routes are increased tourist arrivals, increased business passengers and economic growth and job creation.
It was explained that additional tourist flows would be generated from the new destinations and the connections these airlines offer, allowing Namibia to expand its tourism base beyond the traditional markets.
He said every additional air route generates economic growth, provides jobs, and increases revenues from taxes.
These are realised through the purchase of services by the new airlines, as well as the recruitment of personnel by the airlines for ticket sales and other services, he said.
He said the launch of air services between countries starts with the governments signing bilateral air services agreements and then each country designates an airline to provide air services between two countries.
Applications for such agreements have been received from Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Kenya but have not been finalised.
He added that NAC will continue to encourage and support the government’s efforts for new routes in order to promote Namibia as a logistic hub.
The national carrier Air Namibia is one of the few African airlines permitted to land in the European Union.
ELLANIE SMIT