Air Namibia has the capacity

WINDHOEK – Air Namibia has the capacity to transport many passengers for the upcoming international conferences lined up in the country during the next few months, the airline’s spokesperson has said.

“We have everything in place, and we do not foresee any problems. Air Namibia has the capacity to transport passengers originating from points where we fly to,” Air Namibia Head of Corporate Communications Paul Nakawa told Nampa in an interview.

Air Namibia flies every day between Windhoek and Frankfurt, Germany, and has two frequencies daily between Windhoek and Johannesburg or Cape Town in South Africa, respectively.

The national airline also flies three times to Accra, Ghana, and participants who are connecting from North America can do it in Ghana, and fly directly to Namibia.

Namibia will host the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP 11) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) from 16 to 27 September 2013.

Between 2 000 and 3 000 delegates from 195 country parties of the UNCCD are expected to arrive here to attend the event. Namibia, a pioneer in direct potable water re-use in the world, will also host the Ninth International Water Association (IWA) Conference on Water Reclamation from 27 to 31 October 2013.

About 450 water professionals and academics from the United States of America (USA), Europe, South America, Japan, China, Singapore, Australia, Mexico and South Africa will attend the event.

From 26 to 31 October 2013, Namibia will also host the 10th Adventure Travel World Summit (ATWS), and more than 700 tourism industry professionals from around the world are expected to attend this event.

Nakawa said participants for conferences of this magnitude normally make their flight bookings well in advance, so Air Namibia does not foresee any clogging regarding bookings.

“Air Namibia is also one of the airlines which fly into our hub, the Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA). Therefore, passengers have ample choices to make which airline to fly with. Some airlines have already contacted Air Namibia to partner or consider group-fare bookings,” he enthused.

Nakawa’s statement follows various events’ organisers’ concerns about air access during these conferences.

The ATWS’s Project Co-ordinator Martin Wiemers told Nampa on Thursday that air access would be a challenge for the national airline.

“Air access is a challenge for us, as delegates said they have to arrive one day earlier or later for the conference,” he stated.

The ATWS is the largest gathering of adventure travel professionals in the world, and this year’s edition is currently 98 per cent sold-out.

The chairperson of the Ninth International Water Association (IWA) Conference on Water Reclamation, Piet du Pisani expressed similar concerns about air transport, noting that some delegates might come earlier or later to attend the event. – Nampa