WINDHOEK - Air Namibia has confirmed that it has increased flight frequencies from five to six on the Windhoek- Gaborone- Durban route, effective  September 25, and to seven per week effective October 28.  

The Namibian national airline will now be flying to Gaborone and Durban on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, while Saturday will be added on the route network effective October 28. The route is serviced by the Embraer ERJ 135, offering 37 seats in economy class.  

Air Namibia launched the route WDH-GBE-DUR during October 2016, following a comprehensive route network development review done. The route development study recommended that the operation WDH-GBE-DUR be operated using the Embraer ERJ 135 fleet, seven flights per week.  

Xavier Masule, General Manager for Air Namibia’s Commercial Services, noted that the initial phase of the operation involved use of the Airbus A319 x 4 flights per week. This was changed to Embraer fleet effective June 24, operating five flights per week. “Since introduction of the ERJ on the route under review, we have spillage and load factors in excess of 85 percent average per flight during August 2018,” Masule explained, adding that the demand for Durban is mostly high during the period August to December.  

Further motivating the move to increase frequencies, Masule said the additional rotations on the route are expected to carry about 70 percent load factor, generating a positive operating margin of 12 percent.