Namibia's new president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, plans to relaunch a new national carrier between June and December 2026 as a public-private partnership (PPP), The Namibian newspaper reported citing presidential spokesman Alfredo Hengari.
Hengari said that a market study would be completed by June 2025, and expressions of interest for the PPP would be finalised by August 2026.
"Negotiations should be concluded by December 2025, and the launch and official operations of the new airline are anticipated between June and December 2026," he stated.
According to the newspaper, the new Namibian president has allocated NAD20 million Namibian dollars (USD1.1 million) for a feasibility study into a national carrier, with funding managed by the Ministry of Works and Transport under minister Veikko Nekundi.
According to a source close to the leadership of the ruling South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO), the president has emphasised the priority of a flag carrier as a symbol of national pride. The implementation plan of SWAPO's election manifesto indicates that NAD3 billion (USD163 million) would be required over the next five years to support a new national airline.
Still, in an address to employees, Nekundi said it was not a matter of "so-called pride" but of "unmeasurable economic contribution" to revive a national airline. He promised that re-establishing a national carrier would not cost the government millions of dollars. He assured Namibians that the new government was "prudent in all its affairs", and, "as such, all necessary steps will be undertaken to ensure that a national airline is devised accordingly."
In his address, filmed by Namibia's One Africa Television, Nekundi explained that the government does not intend to revive Air Namibia (Windhoek International), which was liquidated in February 2021 after costing the nation NAD8 billion (USD435 million) in state bailouts over three decades. "Air Namibia is not coming back. We are not reviving Air Namibia. We are bringing back a national airline. Those are two different things. Air Namibia is gone, but a national airline will be in Namibia," he stated.
Local analysts pointed out that the government's upcoming budget should provide more insight into its funding model for a new national airline and how it would be managed differently from defunct Air Namibia, which was marked by chronic financial instability, unsustainable operational costs, and structural inefficiencies that rendered the airline unprofitable from its inception despite decades of state support.
