Boeing deal fails to take off

PLANS by Air Namibia for the Boeing 747-400 Combi to leave the airline’s fleet for good last night were temporarily grounded.

The lack of a required international safety feature in the South African Airways Boeing 747-300 aircraft Air Namibia intended to lease to service the Frankfurt route starting last night, meant that the Welwitschia once again had to be roped-in to carry passengers to Europe. The Jumbo was scheduled to fly directly to Amsterdam last night with only crew members on board, to undergo its final maintenance check today before being sold.The aircraft would have remained in Europe until being handed to its new owners on July 21.Air Namibia clinched a deal last month with yet undisclosed buyers, to sell its most costly investment.But the airline’s Technical and Operations General Manager Andre Compion said yesterday that the hitch did not affect the impending sales deal at this stage.He said the prospective buyers had been kept abreast of the latest developments.”We still have a lot of leeway.We are trying not to jeopardise the deal and not affect operations at the same time, which is of particular importance to us,” he told The Namibian yesterday evening.”But the buyer has their own time constraints.We can’t expect them to delay invariably.”On Monday the SAA Boeing 747 arrived at the Hosea Kutako International Airport in preparation for what was supposed to be its maiden flight for Air Namibia last night.The airline said in a statement yesterday that it had earlier been given permission by German aviation authorities to land and take-off from Frankfurt am-Main with the South African aircraft, despite it not being fitted with the mandatory bullet-proof cockpit door.But this decision was rescinded on Monday and Air Namibia informed that it would no longer be permitted to land the plane in Europe.In light of terrorist attacks over United States airspace in 2001, the International Civil Aviation Organisation ordered that aircraft particularly those landing in the US and Europe, be fitted with this door by April 1.The reinforcement controls access to the cockpit from the cabin.Air Namibia’s Boeing Combi was fitted with this door at the end of March.Because of the unavailability of these doors, not all airlines could comply with the requirement before the deadline – the SAA Boeing being one such aircraft.Compion said yesterday the particular aircraft had stopped flying to Europe prior to the April deadline.As it was also up for sale, it was likely that SAA was not prepared to pay for fitting the reinforcement.Air Namibia said yesterday that it was working closely with the local German Embassy to resolve the situation.However Compion was confident yesterday that if the matter could not be resolved soon, the airline would be able to lease another aircraft instead.He said the SAA deal was the most optimal in terms of its capacity, reliability, the support offered and its commercial viability.”Finding another aircraft won’t be a problem.But finding the right one is the challenge,” he said.The Jumbo was scheduled to fly directly to Amsterdam last night with only crew members on board, to undergo its final maintenance check today before being sold.The aircraft would have remained in Europe until being handed to its new owners on July 21.Air Namibia clinched a deal last month with yet undisclosed buyers, to sell its most costly investment.But the airline’s Technical and Operations General Manager Andre Compion said yesterday that the hitch did not affect the impending sales deal at this stage.He said the prospective buyers had been kept abreast of the latest developments.”We still have a lot of leeway.We are trying not to jeopardise the deal and not affect operations at the same time, which is of particular importance to us,” he told The Namibian yesterday evening.”But the buyer has their own time constraints.We can’t expect them to delay invariably.”On Monday the SAA Boeing 747 arrived at the Hosea Kutako International Airport in preparation for what was supposed to be its maiden flight for Air Namibia last night.The airline said in a statement yesterday that it had earlier been given permission by German aviation authorities to land and take-off from Frankfurt am-Main with the South African aircraft, despite it not being fitted with the mandatory bullet-proof cockpit door.But this decision was rescinded on Monday and Air Namibia informed that it would no longer be permitted to land the plane in Europe.In light of terrorist attacks over United States airspace in 2001, the International Civil Aviation Organisation ordered that aircraft particularly those landing in the US and Europe, be fitted with this door by April 1.The reinforcement controls access to the cockpit from the cabin.Air Namibia’s Boeing Combi was fitted with this door at the end of March.Because of the unavailability of these doors, not all airlines could comply with the requirement before the deadline – the SAA Boeing being one such aircraft.Compion said yesterday the particular aircraft had stopped flying to Europe prior to the April deadline.As it was also up for sale, it was likely that SAA was not prepared to pay for fitting the reinforcement.Air Namibia said yesterday that it was working closely with the local German Embassy to resolve the situation.However Compion was confident yesterday that if the matter could not be resolved soon, the airline would be able to lease another aircraft instead.He said the SAA deal was the most optimal in terms of its capacity, reliability, the support offered and its commercial viability.”Finding another aircraft won’t be a problem.But finding the right one is the challenge,” he said.