Namibia Air Line has been Certified to Fly Globally

By Abdul Rahman Bangura–

Air Namibia
Photo Credit: Nice PNG

NEW AFRICA BUSINESS NEWS ( NABN ) Freetown, Sierra Leone- The license has been given to Air Namibia in a bid to permitting the aircraft to fly anywhere in the globe. The new Air Service License (ASL) was delivered by the Transport Commission.

The commission modified Air Namibia License No.00014 which was handed out on April 5th, 1993 in terms of the Air Service Act No 51, to enable the airline to run globally.

Interpreted by the old license, Air Namibia was permitted to operate in Africa and Europe only. The motion is aligned with the strategic growth of the airline in providing the world with passengers, cargo, and related air carrier services.

“Air Namibia applied for reversal in order to fulfill its mandate as per the certificate of essential service issued by the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and SME Development. Our airline is certified to operate charter flights to transport passengers, evacuation, and cargo.

“To do this, we needed a licensee for a non-schedule license that we charter on an ad hoc basis – especially now that we are catering for COVID-19 related repatriations, as well as to transport necessary consignments to and from Namibia,” stated the airline’s spokesperson – Paul Nakawa.

Air Namibia canceled all its flights on March 18th, 2020 which influenced their already weakened systems. With the expansion of the Hosea Kutako International Airport in mind, the national airline is geared to strengthen and speed up revenue generation for shareholders.

“From a commercial stance, it can induce income in this financially strained situation, which can help us fulfil our financial obligations. We should also comment on the efficiency of the Transport Commission,” Nakawa noted.

The Namibian has seen documents exhibiting the airline has moved toward the World Health Organization to be considered for the distribution of Covid-19 materials worldwide – primarily to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

Nakawa said this does not mean the airline is considering new routes. “It’s premature to discern this as the whole world is under lockdown. As and when the flight sector retreats to normality, and in line with our strategic plan, we will make reasonable consequences on the routes network, acquainted by the desire at the time,” he furthered.

Current Outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Disease- Coronavirus advisory information, World Health Organization & United States, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.  Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.

Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing. Source- WHO

who.int/emergencies

Coronavirus Q&A, World Health Organization

who.int/news-room

Coronavirus condition overview, World Health Organization

who.int/health-topics

United States, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov