Several airports in Namibia continue to operate without proper licensing due to continued failure to meet the standard required for the granting of operating licences, the state regulator said.
Speaking on Thursday, the chief executive officer of the Namibia Airport Company Bisey Uirab said the inability to meet certain international requirements has contributed to these airports not being licensed.
“But plans are underway to license them,” Uirab told a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economics and Public Administration.
The airports involved included the Eros Airport in the heart of the capital Windhoek, Lüderitz Airport in Karas region, Katima Mulilo (Zambezi region), Rundu (Kavango East) and Keetmanshoop in the Karas region.
Uirab said plans are underway to issue licenses to these airports.
He said NAC is engaged in several projects to upgrade airports in the country including the Hosea Kutako International Airport
The N$250 million (US$17 million) upgrades at the nation’s international airport that starts in August is expected to ease congestion.
However, Uirab lamented that “despite the company trying hard to improve the standards of airports to international level, we are also facing challenges like shortage of aviation related skills in the market, remuneration structures that limit the attraction of best talent, and loss-making airports except for HKIA and Walvis Bay Airport”.
AT/as/APA