Stop the madness known as Air Namibia revival
By Victor Angula /
It was reported recently that President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is thinking about bringing back Air Namibia.
Apparently some millions of dollars have already been set aside to do the feasibility study of reviving the national airliner.
While some people are excited, there are those of us who are dismayed by the idea.
Right now there is an airline which has replaced Air Namibia. Its name is Fly Namibia. While Fly Namibia is owned and run by private sector operatives, bringing back Air Namibia in the skies will mean having two national airlines, because by the look of things Fly Namibia will not go away.
That, indeed, will be to the expense of Air Namibia, which is owned by the state and run with state money. Or to say, it will be to the expense of the taxpayers more acutely than before. Or better to say, a new Air Namibia will hurt Namibia more than before.
Air Namibia used to make a bit of money from foreign tourists traveling to Namibia, those coming from Western Europe. Now with a competitor, in the name of Fly Namibia, which is owned and run by people with origins from Europe, it will be tough for Air Namibia.
So that, like a baby, a new Air Namibia will need to be breastfed every day, more than before, for it to even be able to fly.
So far I have not heard anybody talking about the potential for the new Air Namibia to make money, more money than before. Perhaps the feasibility study will bring up such information.
But as of now, the idea of reviving Air Namibia is not an idea but sheer madness.
It has been proven again and again that a government cannot own a profitable company. Worse if the company is an air company.
Indeed, the one thing public officials are good at creating or constructing is to construct monuments.
Inevitably the new Air Namibia will only turn out to become nothing other than a monument, because anything which only becomes a white elephant or an albatross around the neck of the nation rather than an asset producing value in monetary terms to the society then it is nothing but a national monument.
For sentimental reasons some people just want Air Namibia back in the air. Even if it is not going anywhere, as long as it is flying. How pathetic can that be. You want to keep burning money just to see the image of the tail of Air Namibia in the smoke in the sky?
I am not a fan of Fly Namibia. But as far as I could notice, since the death of Air Namibia, the country has not experienced any discomfort as a result of its absence.
Those who have been feeling the discomfort are the people who used to travel the world on discounted tickets from Air Namibia because they are politically connected or they are viewed as Namibia’s top class citizens.
Let’s forget about Air Namibia and think about some other things that are different and which have nothing to do with the aviation industry.
– Victor Angula is the editor of Omutumwa News Online. He can be reached at: victorangula@yahoo.com
