Firstly well done to Beverly Goulet of American Airlines (see Americas section below) who was on the Aviation 100 winners list for the American Airlines restructuring, she will be making an appearance (with others) on the March/April cover of Airline Economics as we highlight her work and this week’s EETC issuance.
Air Namibia has confirmed that last week it received its biggest government subsidy to date of N$1.1bn “so far in 2013”. Air Namibia has an old fleet with huge maintenance and fuel costs. The injection of funds is understandable given that the airline is the only thing standing between isolation and inclusion in the global economy. The airline still retains two daily flights to Johannesburg and Cape Town, which remains the vital conduit for business to transport in and out of Africa. It is worth highlighting this airline though as if you scan through their losses it is clear that new aircraft would push them straight into the black, so it is good news that a second A319-100 was delivered today and will contribute positively towards building a viable network.
The current stagnation of offering flights to Cape Town, Johannesburg, Frankfurt and Luanda for the past decade and no other international routes have seen the airline require bailout after bailout by the government.
The airline has a cost base that does indeed mirror a low cost operation all apart from the aircraft. If they put the A319-100 to work on the Namibia/Ghana route and ensure that the seating arrangement does not include a rear galley then they should begin to show their worth. The new aircraft coming onto the books should strengthen the balance sheet and assist in the recapitalization of the airline. Upon completion of the fleet upgrade in mid-2013, the Air Namibia fleet will have four E135-LRs, four A319s and two A330-200s with an A340-300 lease agreement extended to go beyond mid-2013 until the A330-200s are delivered.
This airline is one to watch and if they are able to connect to Emirates flights out of East Africa and USA flights out of West Africa then they should do very well indeed as there is little competition to bother them.