Staff Reporter
AIR Namibia announced that it will continue to fly in and out of South Africa and that people intent on travelling to South Africa on flights of Air Namibia will be able to do without interruption.
Earlier today, the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) released a statement about the suspension of Air Namibia from using airports under its control with immediate effect.
According to a statement issued by Air Namibia’s Corporate Communications manager, Paul Nakawa, the reason for the suspension is because the airline’s accounts with ACSA are in arrears.
“We owe them money however we made a partial payment earlier on Wednesday. The decision not to allow us to operate into and out of their airports has been lifted, and we will continue to operate as per published schedules.”
According to Nakakwa the decision to allow Air Namibia to continue operating was met in good faith from ACSA’s end because of good long-standing relationship that it maintained for more than three decades.
“We are continuously engaging with ACSA in order to rectify the status of our account. We believe a lasting solution will be found and the business operations of Air Namibia into and out of South Africa airports will continue without any disruptions.”
Air Namibia operates flights between Hosea Kutako International Airport to ACSA owned airports such as King Shaka in Durban, Oliver Tambo in Johannesburg as well as Cape Town International Airport.
ACSA said in their notice that the Namibian Airline is a cash client and is obligated to settle outstanding amounts every Monday. The airports company charges Air Namibia landing fees, parking fees and passenger service charges for using its airports.
In their statement ACSA said Air Namibia did not adhere to its acknowledgement of debt nor the cash basis terms for using airports owned by ACSA.
“ACSA regrets that the decision became necessary and that the suspension of the airline occurred. The decision was made after considerable engagement with Air Namibia’s management.”
The airports company urged passengers booked on flights of Air Namibia to contact the airline’s Windhoek office for assistance.
