After a successful maiden flight to Accra from Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, via Lagos, Nigeria, the airline pledged to sustain the new route which is expected to serve as a direct connection between Southern Africa and West African countries.

The Managing Director of Air Namibia West Africa, Mr Peter Addai, at the event on June 29 in Accra, observed that previously when the airline operated to Accra, it demonstrated swift performance with safety, efficiency and excellent customer service.

“It was, therefore, sad news when some time in 2014 a decision was taken to suspend operations; such was the impact of Air Namibia that stakeholders stopped asking managers of the airline why they stopped operation,” he said and added that the second coming of the airline to Accra should not only excite people, but rather stakeholders must help sustain the operations going forward.”

“Within the past few years when the operations of the airline were suspended to Accra, other routes were added to the network such as Gaborone in Botswana and Durban in South Africa,” he noted.

He stated that “this convenient new service operates four times a week (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday) from Windhoek), providing smooth and convenient connections inbound and outbound to the airline’s regional flights, connecting West Africa via Windhoek to and from various destinations.

The operation will further transport passengers and cargo on the Lagos-Accra-Lagos leg, utilising the fifth freedom traffic rights granted by the Ghanaian and Nigerian governments, as contained in the existing bilateral air service agreements.

Creating air transport linkages

The acting Managing Director of Air Namibia, Mrs Mandi Samson, in a speech read on her behalf, said the airline was closing a gap in the market by competitively connecting southern Africa to West Africa within less than six hours.

“The decision to launch flights into West Africa is in line with Air Namibia’s mandate and purpose for existence – creating air transport linkages to promote intra-Africa connectivity and regional integration.

This much needed service gives our passengers a better alternative travel option, reducing travel times between Namibia and West Africa by more than 60 per cent.

We are happy to introduce our award winning service in this market.

Air Namibia is offering competitive fares and trusts that once you have tasted our product, we are sure to become your preferred airline of choice,” she stated.

Accra route

The Managing Director of the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL), Mr John Attafuah, indicated that the return of Air Namibia was a clear manifestation of the attractiveness and competitiveness of the Accra route.

According to him, the airline is resuming operations to Ghana at the time when the Terminal Three project which has a capacity of five million passengers a year is almost complete at the KIA.

“We hope that the terminal will provide airlines operating at KIA with the opportunity to either increase their frequencies or develop new route to make Accra the hub of the West African sub region,” he, added.