No firm decision has yet been taken at Cabinet level or by any other entity regarding a possible revival of the liquidated national airline, Air Namibia. This was shared by works and transport minister John Mutorwa on Wednesday.
“To the best of my recollection as a member of Cabinet, there is no concrete decision taken so far as to whether a new airline will be relaunched. Only the wish that is there to maybe one day, which is not defined yet, Namibia will be in the position to consider the launching of a smaller regional airline,” said the minister during a media briefing.
The now defunct national airline was liquidated after government, as the sole shareholder, pulled the plug in March 2020 after it was confirmed the airline accumulated about N$3.5 billion in debt on top of government-guaranteed debt of N$2.58 billion.
As Namibians bid farewell to their national airline at the time, which had been operating continuously for almost 75 years, emotions ran high when government decided to voluntarily liquidate the airline.
Evidently, the contentious and agonising choice to shut down Air Namibia was not wholly unexpected and was not made lightly. This decision had significant ramifications for both airline employees and the tourism sector as a whole.
At the time of the liquidation, Namibia Airports Company (NAC) board chairperson, Leake Hangala said the demise of Air Namibia was one of the most devastating events that occurred in the sector. “Its demise has resulted in a number of our people losing jobs and the country losing its national flag carrier. Losing Air Namibia has also resulted in the loss of domestic competition,” Hangala complained.
When government announced the liquidation in 2020, it stated it could no longer sustain Air Namibia and, therefore, it would be impossible for the airline to trade out of insolvency. The obsolete national airline’s debt comprised N$2.3 billion owed to trade creditors and N$693 million in unpaid taxes.
According to a report on 4 August 2021 by liquidators Bruni and McLaren, Air Namibia still owed N$105.5 million in unpaid severance packages to former employees.
Bank loans afforded to the collapsed airline totalled over N$408 million, while its assets have been valued at N$1.1 billion.