Demand for Windhoek flights grows

NAMIBIA, particularly
Windhoek, could soon
see an increase in
visitors from South Africa as
existing carriers strengthen
their presence on the regional
route – and a new carrier eyes
the destination.
SAA recently applied for
five additional flights a week
from both Johannesburg and
Cape Town to Windhoek. SAA
spokesperson, Tlali Tlali, said:
“We submitted the application
due to increased demand
that SAA is experiencing from
both local and international
markets for travel to/from
Namibia, with interest shown
by both business and leisure
travellers.”
The new carrier, Fly Blue
Crane, headed up by ex-SAA
ceo, Siza Mzimela, also said
it was looking to introduce
flights to Windhoek, as it
believed the destination was
underserved.
Tlali says: “Competition is
beneficial to customers and
should the application of Fly
Blue Crane be approved, we
do not foresee any significant
impact to our operations,
mainly due to the wide network
that SAA serves.”
Air Namibia recently
established a commercial
office in South Africa, a move
that Rod Rutter, coo of XL
Travel, believes will make it a
stronger competitor for travel
between SA and Namibia.
Air Namibia operates doubledaily
flights out of Cape
Town and Johannesburg to
Windhoek with a third flight
operating four times a week.
It does not have any plans
to increase capacity at this
point, says Michell Fourie,
Air Namibia’s commercial
manager of sales and
marketing for South Africa.
Chris Zweigenthal, ceo of
Aasa, says Namibia has always
been a fascinating country
with attractive destinations for
tourists from South Africa, the
region and internationally. “My
assumption is that due to the
increased demand, airlines
are seeing an opportunity and
wish to introduce additional
flights to meet this demand.”
According to Chris, travel within
the SADC region is expected
to grow at 5-6% per annum.
SA Express recently
cancelled its flights between
Cape Town and Windhoek
but did not respond to TNW’s
attempts to confirm whether it
would be increasing capacity
on its Johannesburg-Windhoek
service