IT does not take rocket science to come to the damning conclusion that all is not well at the Namibia Airports Company (NAC). By extension the Ministry of Works and Transport – under whose ambit NAC resorts – cannot be detached from the disturbing events of this week, when the flagship Hosea Kutako International Airport was downgraded. This was after an internationally-sanctioned audit found safety flaws – specifically the dysfunctional firefighting equipment.
The diversion to Botswana on Wednesday night of a Windhoek-bound trans-continental Air Namibia flight from Frankfurt, Germany, after Hosea Kutako was abruptly downgraded, augurs ill for our image as a nation.
The airport was, without warning, downgraded by the Directorate of Civil Aviation from Category 9 to Category 5. Barely two months ago, the NAC called for the expression of interest in constructing an alternative airport in Windhoek, which is to be bigger than Hosea Kutako.
If the company cannot comply with basics, such as having functional firefighting equipment as a tiny airport like Hosea Kutako, how could we possibly be convinced that the NAC will manage the planned bigger airport?
In all likelihood, Wednesday’s flight from Germany could have had first-time tourists visiting our country.
And, hot on the heels of the Malaysian passenger aircraft that got shot down in eastern Ukraine, Air Namibia passengers were told they will be whisked to Gaborone rather than Windhoek, for reasons not explained at the time.
We can only imagine the depth of negative impression this incident has left of our country – let alone its economic consequences.
The airport handles hundreds of thousands of passengers each year and daily handles 20 or so direct scheduled flights to South Africa and other major destinations.
NAC is supposed to ensure the airport complies with international rescue firefighting standards, including the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) safety obligations mandatory for all international airports worth their salt.
But alas, we were informed that the airport’s reclassification to the lowly Category 5 has mainly to do with the lack of firefighting engines. How low can we possibly go?
The current state of paralysis at NAC also stems from the fact that the firefighting personnel at the airport seem inadequately and ill-trained for their jobs.
This is national embarrassment of monumental proportions, and more embarrassing is the fact that in 2009 the airport underwent a modernising makeover under the “strategic plan” announced amidst pomp and fanfare.
This episode raises more questions and one of the questions is, what has NAC been doing all these years to let the airport deteriorate to a shell of its former self?
The lack of functional firefighting engines and other issues cannot be attributed to the lack of resources because we saw, not long ago, the NAC splurging N$7.7 million on a consultancy for a mere restructuring.
Whatever the explanation that caused this scandal, NAC should not spare any expense to remedy this shortcoming because so much is at stake.
The safety issues raised at Hosea Kutako International Airport should be given the priority they deserve and decisive action be taken because ours is not a banana republic where such incidents are the norm. And such flaws must be detected by ourselves as Namibians instead of waiting for ICAO.