Windhoek, 02 September: Air Namibia is pleased to inform its clients and stakeholders that the much- anticipated delivery of the first of the two brand new Airbus A330-200 aircraft is scheduled for later this month, September 2013.

The second A330-200 is expected to enter the national air carrier’s fleet in November 2013. The two aircraft are being leased from US-based lessor, Intrepid Aviation. The lease agreement will be for a 12- year period. The A330s will be used primarily on Air Namibia’s long haul route, between Windhoek and Frankfurt.  The Airbus A330-200 aircraft is an economically efficient aircraft that is popular with airlines around the world. It has been deemed as ideal for Air Namibia as the airline continues to explore ways of reducing its operation costs.

It has been estimated that with the introduction of the two A330-200 aircraft, Air Namibia will realise a saving of up to a whopping N$510 million over 60 months on operating costs alone (N$8.5 million per month).“The fleet upgrade ties in with our network expansion and frequency increase plans, using aircraft which are having a combination of low operating costs, high efficiency, flexibility, customer appeal and optimized performance,” says Air Namibia Head of Corporate Communications Paulus Homateni Nakawa.

The A330s will come in a seat configuration of 244 seats, of which 30 are in business class and 214 in the economy class. Business Class seats will be full flat beds (180 degrees flat), while all seats in the aircraft including economy class will have “video/audio on demand” with individual monitors for each passenger. Air Namibia’s on-board products (seats and inflight entertainment) will also improve significantly with the introduction of the Airbus A330-200 planes, and will contribute to meeting customer needs more optimally.

Air Namibia currently uses two Airbus A340-300 aircraft on the Windhoek-Frankfurt route, whose lease agreement expires in October, 2013. The new A330-200 aircraft have been built and configured in line with Air Namibia requirements and standards.

About Air Namibia (Pty) Limited

Air Namibia, Namibia’s national airline, operates scheduled flights and carries cargo (freights) on domestic, regional and intercontinental flights. The airline was founded in 1947 as South West Air Transport, which later changed to South West Airways. In 1992, the airline’s name was changed to Air Namibia. The mandate of Air Namibia is to be a major contributor towards the attraction and promotion of tourism to Namibia by providing air transport services between Namibia and other countries, as well as by operating flights within the boundaries of Namibia. The airline is positioned as a niche carrier serving domestic points within Namibia, the immediate regional markets of South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Angola. Points beyond (Asia, USA, Middle East and Europe) are serviced in conjunction with partner airlines via our gateways: Frankfurt, Accra, Johannesburg and Lusaka.

Visit : www.airnamibia.com

For Media Related questions please cotact:

Carolyn Riddick @ criddick@aviareps.com