WINDHOEK – The national airline says it has recorded a very good ‘on-time performance’ with virtually no flight delays in some months during the past nine months.
The ‘on-time performance’ looks at flight delays, where the delay is of 15 minutes or more. Departure delays shorter than 15 minutes are usually made up in flight and the aircraft still arrives at its destination on time. “Air Namibia is serious about significant improvement on its operational performance and financial sustainability,” said Chief Operation Officer (COO) of Air Namibia, Rene Gsponer, adding that the airline’s target on ‘on-time performance’ has been above 90 percent. “This is a commendable achievement for Air Namibia and we have seen an equally positive response from the market in terms of ticket sales and positive feedback,” he said in a statement issued yesterday.
The airline attributed the success to the recent government recapitalisation that allowed the airline to acquire state-of-the- art aircraft, as well as to the improved financial stability of the airline making normal operations possible. The acquisition of the new aircraft has had Air Namibia ranked as one of a few airlines with the youngest operational fleet in the world resulting in much more reliable aircraft with an improved technical dispatch reliability. “We wish to thank the Namibian public and in particular the flying public for their forbearance, understanding and support as we went weathered by our challenges during the past year and we thought we should share this good news with them. We at Air Namibia are very excited and encouraged by our improved operational performance and we are grateful to our shareholder, travel trade partners and ultimately you the paying customer (passenger) for the continued support,” the statement from the airline said.
The ‘on-time performance’ is known in the aviation industry as the ‘holy grail’ by which airlines are compared and measured. In most customer surveys that have been performed worldwide, passengers rate airlines according to price and then ‘on-time performance’. Passengers always want to know that the airline they choose to fly will get them to their destinations on time. The ‘on-time performance’ is calculated by taking the percentage of flights delayed by more than 15 minutes of the total number of flights performed by an airline in a particular month. The industry standard is measured on flights that are delayed by 15 minutes or more.
By Staff Reporter