Safety confidence restored at Hosea Kutako

The confidence of safety at the Hosea Kutako International Airport which dampened as a result of sub-standard security features resulting in last year’s downgrade, has been restored following the inauguration of firefighting trucks at an event held last week at the airport.

Tamer El-Kallawi, acting Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Airports Company, said “ I am pleased and proud to stand before you and announce the inauguration of these fire tenders. As much as the down grade was a bad experience for the NAC and the country, lessons learnt during that difficult time has transformed our organisation to be more robust and dynamic in responding to the rigorous demands of airport management and our customer needs.” “The NAC has promulgated a turnaround strategy that seeks to reposition the company to be a world class service provider in Airport operations, and NAC is now moving towards our second phase of our Turnaround Plan of Stabilize and Maintain,” he added. Said El-Kallawi, “the central theme of our turnaround strategy is to realign all company functions towards safety and security. Safety and security of airports is our number one priority and the launch of the firefighting tenders today bears testimony to that commitment.” In addition to that he said, “I am also proud to inform you that the NAC’s  newly acquired scanners and metal detectors are top of the range and contrary to some media reports have explosive detection systems and are ICAO compliant. Our technical team underwent a rigorous training  programme in the United States of America in November 2014 and installation thereof is scheduled for March 2015 at our respective airports.” “Our second priority area focusses on rehabilitation and upgrade of airport infrastructure. The long term objective of NAC is to position Namibia as a key aviation connection hub, in this sense we are strategically positioning ourselves by upgrading our airport infrastructure to meet this need. This will also create much needed employment for Namibians,” he said. Explaining their third strategic priority area he said, “is to improve our revenue growth by 10% per annum. I need to emphasise that all the capital projects highlighted are indeed capital intensive.  
It is with that in mind that NAC will be introducing infrastructure and security charges which are industry best practises elsewhere. These charges will be negotiated with all the stakeholders as part of our Aeronautical Charges which are conducted bi-annually. Consultation forums with our key partners are to commence in March 2015.” “Ondangwa Airport has been operating in a building that was transformed from military operations to accommodate civil operations. I am delighted to announce, Ondangwa airport will soon be boasting a variety of commercial facilities i.e. car rentals, curio shops, restaurants, bureaux de change, mobile services amongst others to enhance convenience and facilitation of world class air travel,” he added. Said  El-Kallawi, “simultaneously it is an opportunity for us to improve our revenue streams. We are further proud to announce our Public Private Partnership initiatives in awarding the concession on the provision of Fuel Service Station at Hosea Kutako International Airport to the National Petroleum Corporation (Namcor) and construction will commence in April. 2015.”