Ethiopian Airlines flight ET835 touched down in Windhoek on Sunday with an all‑female crew at the controls, a moment Namibia’s President Netumbo Nandi‑Ndaitwah hailed as a powerful symbol of women’s growing presence across the aviation industry.
The Addis Ababa–Windhoek service, operated on 8 March to coincide with International Women’s Day, was welcomed as both a celebration of women’s achievements and a reminder of the barriers they continue to break in technical and leadership fields.
Nandi‑Ndaitwah said the crew embodied the expanding roles women now occupy across aviation – from piloting and engineering to safety operations and ground support.
“Their presence here today sends a powerful message to young girls everywhere that professions once thought impossible are now within their reach. The sky, quite literally, is no longer the limit,” she said.
The flight also formed part of Ethiopian Airlines’ 80th‑anniversary celebrations.
Over eight decades, the carrier has grown into Africa’s largest airline, connecting the continent to global markets and serving as a flagship example of African operational excellence and innovation.
Nandi‑Ndaitwah said the milestone was a source of pride not only for Ethiopia but for Africa as a whole.
She noted that Namibia hopes to draw lessons from Ethiopian Airlines as it works to revive its own national carrier, highlighting long‑standing ties between the two countries.
Ethiopian Airlines trained several Namibian pilots, and in 1989 it flew Namibia’s founding president, Sam Nujoma, home from exile ahead of independence.
JN/APA