INTERNATIONAL - Namibia's flagship airline, Air Namibia is now in a state of insolvency, a company official told Xinhua on Wednesday.
Considerations on whether to keep the airline as a state-owned entity or offload it to a private investor is still being considered by the Namibian government who are the sole owners of the financially trouble airline, said Paul Nakawa, the company's corporate communications manager.
He added that the airline's economic challenges are outweighed by its contribution to Namibia's tourism industry, a situation he said allows it to continue leveraging on economic support from the country's treasury.
"The airline is structured in such a way that it is part of the value chain for tourism development for Namibia. The losses the airline makes are set-off against the economic spins off and benefits the country gains," he said.
Nakawa said Namibia's flagship airline which flies routes in most Southern African countries as well as Europe is depending primarily on subsidies from the Namibian government at the moment.
"The airline is operating, an allocation from treasury for 2019/20 was announced and is being received on a monthly basis since April 2019, used to pay for targeted expenses," he said.