Air Nam 'not confirming' debt to NAC

Air Nam 'not confirming' debt to NACAirline admits cash-flow problems The national airline says it is paying creditors what it can afford. Air Namibia says it cannot “confirm or deny” owing the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) N$200 million for the use of the eight airports the latter is managing.

“This is normal in any transactional business,” Air Namibia's manager of corporate communications, Paulus Nakawa, said yesterday.

“The relationship between the two sister companies is enduring and ongoing, therefore we reserve our right not to say anything on the debt.”

It was reported that the NAC had threatened to ban Air Namibia from operating from the airports and to take the airline to court over the unpaid airport fees.

“Air Namibia has a legacy debt with the NAC, which the airline services within existing financial constraints,” Nakawa said.

He admitted that the airline's financial woes remain “unfavourable” as a result of a number of factors.

He said the downgrade of the Hosea Kutako International Airport by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in 2014 had a negative impact on Air Namibia from which it had not yet fully recovered.

Nakawa said the management teams of Air Namibia and NAC were engaged in talks “to ensure that our operations and cooperation continue optimally amid challenges that are normal in any working relationship or institutions”.

“As the principal client to NAC we may have our shortcomings, however, we always try in the best possible way how we can find solutions through ongoing engagements with our business partners such as the NAC,” Nakawa said.

He said Air Namibia had made a payment to the NAC in June but added that that might not have “satisfied” the NAC's expectations.

“However, the payment made is what Air Namibia could afford to pay for the month having considered its other obligations,” Nakawa said.

He said while NAC had all the right to demand that Air Namibia meet its obligations, neither organisation could exist without the other.

In the event of a ban on the use of the airports, Air Namibia stated: “The operations of the national airline will be severely affected and the consequences to the national economy will be dire. The NAC too shall be affected negatively with respect to its cash flow and if NAC opts to close the operations for Air Namibia at its operated airports, that action will be bizarre to Namibia and it will leave irreparable damage.”

CATHERINE SASMAN