Air Namibia committed to service delivery
Air Namibia committed to service delivery
Air Namibia Executive Committee (Exco) members signed performance agreements as a commitment to attain strategic objectives outlined in the national airline’s five year strategic plan for the period 2016/17 – 2020/21. The signing ceremony took place at Air Namibia Strategic Intent launch that took place on 19 April 2017 at the airline’s headquarters in Windhoek.
Advocate Mandi Samson, Acting Managing Director of Air Namibia described the launch of the strategic intent as a stepping stone in the right direction. She said; “The signing of departmental performance agreements reflects accountability in an effort to achieve identified strategic objectives.” “With our strategic plan, we have an effective tool to ensure that Air Namibia becomes a financially sustainable organisation, attractive to our shareholder, clients and employees, and accountable to the Namibian nation.”
Air Namibia is a year into the implementation of the five year strategic plan (2016/17 – 20120/21), driving the national airliner towards the journey of financial sustainability by providing exceptional customer service, ensuring impeccable operational effectiveness and efficiency, maintaining relevant and appropriate compliance, establishing and leveraging off synergistic strategic partnerships and nurturing a result based organisation culture.
Advocate Samson encouraged the national airline’s employees to redirect their efforts towards the strong accelerated delivery of the strategy. She advised; “I strongly believe that our strategic goals are achievable, but they can only be realised if we invest in our efforts and time, while working as a team with the big picture in minds.”
She concluded by saying; “My dream is for Air Namibia to achieve a point where its value is also reflected by a sound financial position. I wish to see Air Namibia as the premier choice for all travellers, when they wish to embark on their trips connecting to the Land of the Brave. To achieve this dream, we need to pull our efforts together in the same direction.”
Air Namibia’s mandate is to provide air transport service to promote tourism and encourage business investment in Namibia.
A lifetime in Aviation
From a Refueller to Airport Station Controller |
|
Air Namibia, the national carrier of Namibia would like to celebrate the life of Mr Martin Andreas, Air Namibia’s Station Controller at Ondangwa Airport. Martin has been devoted to Air Namibia for close to four decades, and leaves a stable station behind as he enters his retirement on Friday, 31 March 2017. From humble beginnings, Martin joined Air Namibia (Namib Air at that time) on 10 February 1978 as a Refueller for aircraft at Eros Airport. He was responsible for quality control of aircraft fuel before refuelling the aircraft. “I had to make sure that the fuel is not mixed with water before refuelling. When fuel for aircraft has been transported, it needs to be stable for a while before refuelling, to ensure that dirt and unwanted substances remain at the bottom of the container, while clean oil emerges at the top,” he explained his entry position at the national airliner. Three years later, in 1981, Martin was transferred to the workshop division, working as an Engineer Assistant. He was primarily responsible for maintenance of jet engines, replacement of jet tyres and greasing of jet bearings. He served in this position for two years, before he was reassigned back to be a Refueller. Apart from being a Refueller, |
|
Martin was also responsible for training and mentoring new Refueller trainees mainly on how to test the quality of jet fuel before refuelling. He held this position for 4 years, from 1983 till early 1987. A highlight in his career that Martin will always keep close to his heart was when he was appointed as Petrol Station Manager for fuelling jetliners’ in mid-October 1987. |
|
This appointment meant that he had to be transferred to Oshakati in Oshana region. “I was very delighted with this appointment, as I was entrusted with more responsibilities that are very critical to the daily management of the national airline. It was also a great opportunity to reunite with my family in the north,” he proudly said. It was in April 1994 when Martin was appointed as the Station Manager for Ondangwa Airport, after the airliners offices moved from Oshakati to Ondangwa earlier that year. He served in this position up until his retirement. His day to day work is to oversee the smooth running of the station, making sure that flights depart on the scheduled time and daily work, including managing staff under his wing. |
|
As Martin reflects on 39 years of his time at Air Namibia, he recalls various developments that took place at the national airline. “I have seen Air Namibia growing from small company to a bigger and better company over the years,” he narrated. He continued, “When I started in 1978, the company was known as South West Airways, and later renamed Namib Air the very same year. Following Namibia’s independence in 1990, Namib Air was renamed Air Namibia.” In the early years, Air Namibia only had 4 small aircrafts: a 5 seater, 8 seater, 22 seater and the biggest being a 55 seater aircraft. Today, Air Namibia boasts a fleet of 10 aircrafts operating nationally, regionally and internationally.” Advocate Mandi Samson, Air Namibia’s Acting Managing Director described Martin as a humble leader who serves customers with a sense of humility, selflessness and commitment. “Martin’s attention to detail, while keeping the broader picture in mind, has been invaluable. His willingness to put in extra time and effort to complete tasks within deadlines has demonstrated commitment to achieve excellence.” During his career, he acquired valuable skills in the aviation field through countless training courses and workshops. Martin narrates, “For 39 years I worked at Air |
|
Namibia, I have gone through multiple training courses; from Airport operation training to ground handling, aircraft loading and other supervisory trainings.” “Although I have been empowered over the years, I am a firm believer that information needs to be shared for the smooth running of the business. To that effect, I have been able to successfully impart the experience, knowledge and skills I have gained over the years to my colleagues,” he specified. |
2
Joining the aviation industry at a youthful age of 21 and spending most of his lifetime at Air Namibia, Martin said that he will always be grateful and indebted to Air Namibia for being part of his life. Filled with mixed feelings, he said: “Although this employment has occupied most of my life, it has empowered me to be a responsible manager, mentor and friend. I have acquired business acumen skills, invaluable experience and of course, I have been able to provide for my family. In a nutshell, this opportunity has made me a better person in life.”
In his final words, Martin said: “I will miss my Air Namibia family, more especially my colleagues at Ondangwa, and the friends I have made over the years. But closer to the heart, I will miss the beautiful landing and taking off of our aircraft.” “As I go on
retirement, I would like to wish the company all the best with its current and future plans.”
Adv. Samson extended words of appreciation to Mr Martin on behalf of the national airline; “Air Namibia would like to extend our best wishes to Martin in his new endeavours. Martin will be greatly missed by the passengers and colleagues alike. We have all benefited from his hands on proactive approach and management style. Air Namibia wishes Martin a happy retirement.”
Expansion on the Windhoek – Gaborone – Durban routes
Air Namibia expands on its Windhoek – Gaborone – Durban routes
Barely six months after introducing the Windhoek – Gaborone – Durban flights, Air Namibia is proud to announce that the route has been performing well and the national airliner plans to increase capacity on this route.
Effective 26 March 2017, Air Namibia will now service the Windhoek-Gaborone- Durban route with Airbus A319 which offers 112 seats, with 16 seats for business class and 96 seats for economy class. Airbus A319 replaces Embraer ERJ 135 which only offered 37 economy seats on that route.
Mr Xavier Masule, Air Namibia’s General Manager for Commercial Services described this development as a strategic move in the right direction. “We are proud of this development because it reflects growth and sustainability. The increment in capacity for the two destinations will meet the growing demand of passengers flying with Air Namibia, while setting new standards for comfort on single-aisle jetliners,” he proudly said.
Air Namibia will continue to service the destination to Gaborone and Durban four times per week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, using the Airbus A319. Apart from offering more seats and business class, the Airbus A319 also provides a fresh new look, more space in the overhead compartments, more leg room and cargo. Due to the bigger capacity, baggage allowance has increased from one piece (1 of 23kg) to two pieces of 23 kg in economy class and two pieces of 32kg for business class passengers.
As part of welcoming the Airbus A319 to the Windhoek – Gaborone – Durban route, Air Namibia will have return promo fare specials for our passengers travelling on that route. A return ticket from Windhoek to Durban via Gaborone will start from N$ 3,600 in economy class and N$ 5,900 in business class. The same fare structure applies to the Windhoek – Gaborone – Windhoek route.
Condor code share with AirNamibia –
Condor takes off with Air Namibia: Codeshare agreement begun between the two airlines
From summer 2017, lots of advantages for passengers of both airlines with daily connections and new destinations
Frankfurt am Main, 9 March 2017 – Condor and Air Namibia concluded a codeshare agreement. This agreement will allow Condor passengers to have access to daily flight connections to Windhoek from summer 2017. The twice-weekly Condor flights from Frankfurt (Mondays and Fridays) are being supplemented with flights from Air Namibia. This means that passengers can make their plans with more flexibility and chose from nine weekly connections during the summer flight plan and from seven weekly connections in the upcoming winter. From April onwards, all codeshare flights will be available with a Condor flight number and airline code “DE” through the Condor booking channels.
“With daily nonstop flights from Frankfurt to Windhoek, the cooperation between Condor and Air Namibia offers our customers additional advantages with an expanded selection of holiday destinations in Southern Africa and a continuous baggage check-in on codeshare flights,” says Ralf Teckentrup, Chairman of the Board of Condor Flugdienst GmbH. “Our existing Africa routes are being optimally complemented with the agreement so that, in addition to Zanzibar, Mombasa, Kilimanjaro, Windhoek and Cape Town, other parts of Southern Africa can also be explored on long haul flights.”
The Condor codeshare flight number will also be used on connecting Air Namibia flights within Southern Africa. This will result in passengers benefitting from convenient connections to Johannesburg, Cape Town Harare and Walvis Bay.
As part of the agreement, Air Namibia flight numbers with the “SW” code will also be offered on many routes in the Condor route network. The codeshare routes, such as in the Caribbean, to North America or in the Mediterranean, open up a selection of many new holiday destinations and connections for Air Namibia guests.
Press Information
“We are happy to improve the service offering to our clients through collaboration with Condor, especially the seamless travel options via Frankfurt for onward connections to North America, the Caribbean or to the many other Condor holiday destinations result in a great added value for our guests. Before our agreement, these destinations were hard to reach for our customers”, says Advocate Mandi Samson, Acting Managing Director of Air Namibia.
The code share agreement was signed by both airlines at the ITB fair in Berlin, Germany. Subject to the approval of the German Civil Aviation Authority and the Namibia Civil Aviation Authority, the code share agreement is expected to begin with the 2017 summer flight schedule.
In addition to codeshare flights, the two airlines will offer other complementary connections of the partner airline on their respective websites. Apart from daily direct connections to Windhoek, visitors to the Condor website can also choose flights to eight destinations in Southern Africa. The range on airnamibia.com is being expanded by many additional Condor destinations. In particular, destinations such as Minneapolis, Seattle, Austin and Barbados will enhance the Air Namibia route network.
Low-priced flights from Frankfurt to Windhoek in summer 2017 are available with immediate effect at a one-way complete price from EUR 349.99 in Economy Class, from EUR 499.99 in Premium Class (only available in Condor aircraft) and from EUR 799.99 in Business Class. Connecting flights, for example from Frankfurt to Johannesburg are available at a one-way complete price from EUR 499.99 in Economy Class (one-way) and EUR 649.99 in Business Class (one-way). These reasonable offers can be booked at www.condor.com or airnamibia.com or with your travel agent.
Another alternative option for booking flights covered by this code share agreement is by calling;
- +49 (0) 180/676 7767 (0.20 EUR/call from German landlines, mobile calls max. 0.60 EUR/call). Orby calling;
- +49 (0) 69 – 77 06 73 035, or +264 61 299 6111
Press Information
New codeshare routes and further connections with Air Namibia:
|
Departure |
Destination |
Flightnumber |
Day of Week |
Onwards connections |
||||||||||
|
Frankfurt |
Windhoek |
Operated by Condor: DE 2292 Operated by Air Namibia: DE 6292 |
Monday and Friday Daily |
Luanda (Angola) |
||||||||||
|
Cape Town |
DE 2290 |
Tuesday; Thursday and Saturday |
Walvis Bay (Namibia) Windhoek (Namibia) |
|||||||||||
About Condor
Condor Flugdienst GmbH has been flying its guests to the most beautiful holiday destinations in the world since 1956. The traditional airline is a 100 percent subsidiary of Thomas Cook GmbH. On an annual basis, more than seven million passengers fly with Condor to about 75 destinations in Europe, America, Africa and Asia. The route network of the holiday airline includes over 230 destinations through cooperations with airlines in the destination areas. Condor was merged with the airlines Thomas Cook Airlines UK, Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium and Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia in October 2013, to form the Thomas Cook Group Airlines. All companies within the Thomas Cook Group plc. are united under a common symbol: The Sunny Heart. To express their common identity, the aircraft of the Thomas Cook Group Airlines show the sunny heart on their aircraft trails. The sunny heart also shows that Condor is putting its heart into every flight. The fleet of the Thomas Cook Group is comprised of 95 modern and environmentally friendly aircraft, of which 45 aircraft are from the Condor fleet: nine Airbus A320s, seven Airbus A321s, thirteen Boeing 757-300s and sixteen Boeing 767-300s. The aircraft are maintained by the airlines’ own technical companies. The holiday airline has won numerous awards in recent years, including the award for “Service Champion 2016” in the Gold Category.
More information at www.condor.com/newsroom
International Woman’s Day
Flying Forward: Increasing Women in the Namibian Aviation Industry
Windhoek, Namibia, Friday, 03 March 2017: Air Namibia’s Acting Managing Director, Advocate Mandi E.P Samson states that Air Namibia’s commitment to gender equality within aviation is a vital step towards not only creating a more gender-inclusive Namibia, but also a more prosperous one. She made these remarks in recognition of this year’s celebrations towards International Women’s Day.
“It is fitting that the theme for International Women’s Day (IWD) 2017 is “Be Bold for Change”. The battle for a more gender inclusive world is the responsibility of every industry. IWD recognizes, as do we, that the potential women offer to economies across the world must be nurtured and developed,” Advocate Samson adds.
Tourism in Namibia is the 3rd highest contributor to GDP. The country is a popular tourist destination with tens of thousands of jobs directly and indirectly related to the tourist trade. To fully exploit the economic potential of the tourism industry, the involvement of women is critical.
“Air Namibia is keen to encourage more women to enter the aviation industry. The potential growth rewards for both their personal careers and the national forecast are impressive, with aviation being an integral part of Namibia’s future economic development. Currently, the aviation industry is perceived as predominantly a male domain. This deters women from pursuing careers in a sector which would benefit from equal representation,” states Advocate Samson
Aviation remains an elite profession in Namibia. However, it is yet to fully embrace the government’s commitment to gender parity. Across state-owned enterprises and other sectors such as banking, health, law, and the military, women are already playing pivotal roles. For the visibility of women to increase in aviation as they command aircrafts and take up other vital positions, delivers a strong message both inside and outside Namibia. It encourages young girls to see beyond traditional female roles and to utilise their own skills to play an important part in their country’s economic development. The representation of women in Namibia’s aviation industry also issues a psychological message to the world that the national carrier of Namibia is committed to equal representation.
There are several reasons why women are still underrepresented in Namibia’s aviation industry. The perception that the sector is dominated by men is one important psychological reason for the relatively few number of women pursuing aviation as a career, but there are others. For instance, there is an economic barrier to training for many women. Pilot training is an expensive endeavour and, for the purposes of career progression, it requires attendance at a reputable flight school. These economic constraints have contributed to discouraging women to pursue a career path in aviation in the past. In addition, the career trajectory naturally takes time, with a significant number of years passing between entry level and flying our largest plane at command level.
“Air Namibia has created an explicit career path for all pilots within our airline. They are first employed as First Officers and then developed into Captains. We are committed to mandatory training at all stages of a career, ensuring that pilots exceed their expected performance and consistently adhere to aviation regulations and requirements. The first female pilot was employed by Air Namibia twenty years ago, in February 1997. Currently, 17% of our 83 pilots at Air Namibia are female. We recognize that this figure is too low and are taking steps to increase representation across the airline,” adds Advocate Samson.
Training and education are vital components in encouraging female pilots of the future. Our board has already approved the Cadet Pilot Programme, creating a feeder pipeline for the airline, which will begin in 2018. Air Namibia is also in contact with current university students, keen on researching the airline for short internships or other research purposes. Beyond this, the airline intends to spend time amongst communities and local trade fairs demystifying the process of becoming a pilot.
“It is increasingly clear that girls in high school are unaware of the entry point for aviation studies and this information needs to be conveyed at career days in schools and communities. We recognize that catching potential pilots young and explaining their career trajectories and which subjects they need to study is the best way of developing young women for a future in the aviation industry,” concludes Advocate Samson.
Air Namibia & Turkish Airlines have signed a codeshare agreement.
Air Namibia and Turkish Airlines have signed a codeshare agreement.
Air Namibia (SW) and Turkish Airlines (TK) signed a codeshare agreement yesterday. The agreement that will be effective as from 01st March 2017, covers routes between Turkey and Namibia, and set to expand the travel opportunities for the passengers of two airlines.
The signing ceremony took place at Turkish Airlines’ Headquarters in İstanbul. Namibia Deputy Minister of Works & Transport honorable Sankwasa James Sankwasa and Turkish Airlines Deputy Chairman and CEO, Bilal Ekşi signed the deal in the presence of senior officials from both sides.
L-R: Mandi Samson, Acting MD: Air Namibia, Deputy minister of Works, James Sankwasa, Bilal Ekşi – Turkish Airlines Deputy Chairman and CEO and Dr. Ahmet Bolat – Turkish Airlines Chief Officer (Technology & Investment).
This new codeshare agreement is bound to broaden the commercial partnership between two companies and their respective countries. At the same time, passengers of both airlines will be given more travel options between Namibia and Turkey.
Under the terms of the agreement, Air Namibia and Turkish Airlines are planning to place codes on unilateral flights of SW on Windhoek – Johannesburg v.v. / Windhoek – Frankfurt v.v. and unilateral flights of TK on İstanbul – Johannesburg v.v. / İstanbul – Frankfurt v.v. Also it has been considered that, when SW introduces the Windhoek – İstanbul v.v. flights in future, this codeshare agreement will be expanded by placing the code to include beyond İstanbul flights.
Honorable Sankwasa expressed his satisfaction with this commercial partnership with a well-established and rapidly growing carrier like Turkish Airlines, which enjoys a broad route network. He also expressed that he is happy for Air Namibia to conduct this codeshare agreement with Turkish Airlines and also added that the deal is a crucial experience for the national airline. Honourable Sankwasa further stated that he is confident about this cooperation which will be fruitful for both sides and will be enlarged very soon.
The many areas of cooperation between Turkish Airlines and Air Namibia.” Honourable Sankwasa further stated.
“We are pleased to sign this codeshare agreement with Air Namibia and aim to improve our partnership to maximize the travel opportunities offered our passengers through our flight networks. Air Namibia continues its expansion successfully, and we believe that this partnership between Turkish Airlines and Air Namibia will bring benefit to both carriers, not only from a commercial perspective, but also in cultural interactions between Turkey and Namibia while promoting business travel between two countries.” said Turkish Airlines’ Deputy Chairman and CEO, Mr. Bilâl Ekşi, as commenting on the agreement.
About Air Namibia:
Established in 1946 and started operations in 1949. As of December 2016, the route network comprised 16 destinations and 17 airports in seven different countries in Africa and Europe, with eight of these destinations being domestic ones. The airline is positioned as a niche carrier serving domestic points within Namibia, the immediate regional markets of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. The airline also serves the entire European network through Frankfurt. Air Namibia is a winner of the “Feather Awards” for Best Regional Airline for more than 11 years, including 2016. More information about Air Namibia can be found on airnamibia.com or our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
About Turkish Airlines:
Established in 1933 with a fleet of five aircraft, Star Alliance member Turkish Airlines is a 4-star airline today with a fleet of 334 (passenger and cargo) aircraft flying to 296 destinations worldwide with 247 international and 49 domestic. According to Skytrax survey of 2016, Turkish Airlines was chosen “Europe’s Best Airline” for the 6th and “Best Airline in Southern Europe” for the 8th consecutive time. Turkish Airlines was awarded for the world’s “Best Onboard Catering – Economy Class” in 2010, and the world’s “Best Business Class Airline Catering” in 2013, 2014, and once again this year; and according to this year’s results, it has also been awarded the “Best Business Class Lounge Dining” award for two years in a row. More information on Turkish Airlines is available on our website www.turkishairlines.com or our Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Linkedin and Instagram accounts.