Namibia has selected Namibia Air as the name of its proposed new national airline, with a launch targeted for the next financial year, Works and Transport Minister Veikko Nekundi said. The carrier will be registered as Namibia Air (Pty) Ltd, fully owned by the state and overseen initially by a 10-member interim board, ch-aviation reports.

The decision to establish a new airline comes after the voluntary liquidation of Air Namibia in March 2021, following more than NAD8bn ($467mn) in state bailouts over three decades. At the time of its collapse, Air Namibia operated four A319-100s (two owned and two leased from Deucalion Aviation), two A330-200s leased from Castlelake, four owned E135s, and one B737-500.

Nekundi is cited as saying the ministry is finalising market analysis, traffic forecasting and the overall business model for Namibia Air. A fleet plan will be determined later, and the government has not yet decided whether to buy or lease aircraft. He said decisions will follow further economic analysis, and the public will be briefed once the assessments are complete.

The minister said the new carrier must avoid the commercial issues that weakened Air Namibia, including uncompetitive lease rates, staffing inefficiencies and loss-making routes. He said network, fleet and staffing decisions will be commercially driven to protect taxpayer funds.

Namibia Air is also expected to support regional integration by using newly ratified fifth-freedom rights to expand connectivity and trade links within Africa. Nekundi added that the airline could explore strategic partnerships and feeder arrangements with other carriers as its network develops.

He said the decision to re-establish a national carrier follows “clear policy directives,” noting that the initiative forms part of the ruling SWAPO party’s 2024 election manifesto implementation plan. SWAPO has advocated for a replacement for Air Namibia since 2022.

A previous attempt to establish a successor — Fly Etosha (Windhoek Eros) — aimed to launch by mid-2023 but did not secure a licence. Around the same period, the government also explored the possibility of reviving a flag carrier in partnership with Ethiopian Airlines, but no agreement materialised.

Domestic and regional services are currently provided by private Namibian airline FlyNamibia, a joint venture between Westair Aviation (WAA, Windhoek Eros) and Airlink (South Africa). Airlink holds around 30% of weekly seat capacity at Windhoek International, according to ch-aviation. International connectivity is provided by South African Airways, Discover Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, TAAG Angola Airlines, FlySafair, and Proflight Zambia.