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Debt crisis did not affect passenger numbers- Air Namibia

The number of passengers from Europe has not declined since the start of the Eurozone debt crisis, says Air Namibia’s head of corporate communications, Paul Nakawa.
In an interview with the Economist recently, Nakawa said that the airline is keeping a close eye on the situation as it unfolds, so that it can implement strategies which are already in place.
“In general, a debt crisis is bound to have an impact on every industry economically. We do not have a projection of a negative impact thus far,since the crisis started, the number of our passengers from Eurozone countries never declined,” he said.
Nakawa further said passenger numbers are expected to increase in line with the airline’s business plan and that according to the statistics, the numbers increased tremendously last year.
“This is also in addition to the introduction of new routes. This is due to our on time performance, excellent service delivery, and also our reliable connections of which our fares remain competitive. We have quite a number of passengers who travel to Namibia with us mainly for two reasons-for leisure and business,” he said.
When asked what needs to be done in order to increase the number of passengers coming to the country, Nakawa said that efforts should be applied by all team players – ranging from private and public companies and individuals, the tourism sector and various government ministries – in promoting Namibia as a safe travelling destination within the region and in the world at large.
According to Nakawa, politicians have a great role to play, and the airline commends the government   for the continued peace and stability that Namibians are still enjoying.
“The sectors that serves as drivers and marketing entities to promote Namibia as a destination, being Namibia Tourism Board (NTB), Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR), Air Namibia and the Namibia Airports Company have to strategically work together to ensure that the number of tourist to Namibia increase,” he concluded.

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