FlyNamibia expects to see increased passenger volumes as Qatar Airways’ acquisition of a stake in South Africa’s Airlink is expected to enhance regional connectivity and attract more travellers to its routes.
FlyNamibia’s Managing Director Andre Compion said the airline, which is 40% owned by Airlink, has an important role to play in the provision of scheduled air services domestically and regionally where they are the sole provider of such a service.
“As such, more passengers will connect onto our flights due to higher passenger numbers being fed onto our routes. This will allow FlyNamibia to develop more routes and to increase frequencies on existing routes as demand increases,” he told The Brief.
Airlink and FlyNamibia, already enjoy a close relationship with Qatar through the shared Global Distribution System that allows for seamless connectivity between flights of the three carriers.
“As such would the shareholding of Qatar in Airlink not have an impact on our present operational capabilities, we already enjoy access to their whole network,” he said.
Compion highlighted that the most significant advantage of Qatar Airways’ investment in Airlink for FlyNamibia would be the strong vote of confidence it represents for the Southern African aviation industry.
“Qatar sees huge potential in the subregion and would rely on their expertise and resources to further develop the shared network to the benefit of all 3 carriers,” he said.
FlyNamibia offers various routes, including Windhoek, Ondangwa, Walvis Bay, Oranjemund, Lüderitz, Rundu, and Katima Mulilo.
Additionally, FlyNamibia connects Windhoek to Cape Town, South Africa.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, Qatar Airways Group acquired a 25% stake in Airlink.
The announcement is a continuation of the airline’s ambition to further develop its operations across the African continent.
