Air Namibia has announced that effective Thursday, all flight operations will be cancelled, with all aircrafts returning to base. The statement by Air Namibia Management further said that the reservation system for taking new bookings is also suspended, with affected passengers been required to register their claims for refund.
Namibia’s cabinet has since given its approval for Air Namibia to be voluntarily liquidated. As reported by The Namibian , in leaked documents from a consultative meeting held Wednesday, the cabinet made the decision that the airline’s workers will enjoy preferential treatment and receive their full severance packages from the liquidators.
“We will also explain that cabinet approved for the employees to receive ex gratia payments equal to the value of 12 months salary and that this amount will be disbursed over a 12 month period,” the documents read.
The news was not received well by most Namibians, with one of them by the name @ManyatiD saying on Twitter that “this is a very disappointing route they have opted for, public-private partnership was the best solution. A very good example Kenya Airways is thriving through that model of business”
It has not been a smooth sail for the airline as in a June 4th 2020 National address, President Hage Geingob said “Air Namibia must be liquidated, we have a serious problem, it must be restructured, it is not making any profits and it is just being bailed out, we must do something about it.”
Air Namibia operated a fleet of 10 aircraft including two leased Airbus SE A330-200s.