Namibia’s embattled national carrier was on Wednesday night given a lifeline after a last-minute order by the High Court suspending the cancellation of the airline’s operating licence over viability challenges.
Air Namibia’s licence was due to be cancelled at midnight on Wednesday after the country’s Transport Commission ordered the grounding of its planes, citing viability problems.
“The suspension of Air Namibia’s service licence has been upended by the High Court,” the airline said.
The order means that Air Namibia would continue to fly “all domestic flights as per published schedule,” it added.
The airline is saddled with millions of dollars of debts, including close to US$14 million owed to a European creditor that has approached the courts for an order to liquidate the company.
Efforts to bring financial stability to the airline have failed over the years, with the airline heavily relying on support from the government to remain afloat.
It currently requires around N$8 billion (about US$468 million) to stay afloat, with the government only allocating about 10 percent of that in last month’s budget.
JN/APA