Source::AP
WINDHOEK, Namibia
The government of Namibia has closed the southern African country’s state-owned airline, Air Namibia, saying that it can no longer afford the financial losses. All Air Namibia flights have been canceled, 10 aircraft have been grounded and the reservations system has been closed. Air Namibia’s 644 employees have lost their jobs and will receive a severance package of a year’s salary, according to a Cabinet announcement.
Air Namibia has announced on its social media platforms that customers who have paid for flights should register for refunds. The decision to close the airline was taken after careful consideration, according to the minister of public enterprises Leon Jooste.
The national airline has had financial problems for years, but the situation took a turn for the worse last year. A major problem has been the controversial lease in 1998 of a 351-passenger plane — a Boeing 767-300 — from a private company, Challenge Air.
Air Namibia terminated the agreement after discovering the aircraft was defective and Challenge Air was liquidated soon afterward, but the transaction continued to haunt the national airline. A settlement agreement was reached in December 2019, in which Air Namibia acknowledged it owed Challenge Air around N$333 million (US$22 million) and undertook to pay that sum in monthly instalments until September 2020.
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