Air Namibia refutes claims of Russian SuperJets deal

The national airline carrier, Air Namibia this week said it is currently not in talks with Russian commercial jet manufacturer, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, on issues pertaining to the purchase of three aircraft.

Air Namibia spokesperson said this following a report last week from Aviation researcher, Ivan Nadalet of ch-aviation GmbH, which stated that the Senior Vice President of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, Eugene Andrachnikov said that their operations in Europe and Russia are working on a timely delivery date of the SSJ 100-95s SuperJets to Namibia.

“At this point in time, Air Namibia is not in talks with any aircraft manufacturer with the intention to procure any aircraft,” Air Namibia said.

“As already emphasised to you, the article is factually incorrect,” they stressed.

Andrachnikov told Interfax news agency last week that his firm would likely also provide maintenance training and and assistance should the Namibian state-owned carrier commit to an order. If the deal had come to fruition, Air Namibia will become the SuperJet’s sub-Sahara African launch customer and operator.

Furthermore he said,the deal would include assistance in the areas of aircraft maintenance, pilot training, and infrastructural development as this would be Air Namibia’s first commercial fleet of Russian made aircraft.

Currently Air Namibia operates a mixture of Airbus and Embraer equipment including four A319-100s, two A330-200s, and four ERJ-135s.

Meanwhile, earlier in the month, Namibia’s Deputy Minister of Works and Transport, James Sankwasa, told the national broadcaster that government aims to increase Air Namibia’s fleet to about twenty aircraft over the next twelve years.