FlyWestair (Windhoek Eros) has rebranded to FlyNamibia effective from November 2, 2021, to "better reflect its role as a trusted Namibian carrier"‚ the airline has announced.
The airline is the Southern African country's only active scheduled operator at present following the demise earlier this year of state-owned flag carrier Air Namibia (Windhoek International).
Along with its rebranding, the airline announced a new safari schedule of daily connections between Windhoek Eros to Namibian tourism destinations including the Etosha National Park, Sossusvlei in the Namib desert, and the coastal holiday town of Swakopmund, as well as daily flights between Katima Mulilo (Caprivi) (on the Caprivi Strip in the north-eastern corner of Namibia) and Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) as of April 2022. Speaking at a ceremony in the capital Windhoek, Chief Executive Officer Henri van Schalkwyk said the safari schedule would connect the most sought after tourism destinations in Namibia and Southern Africa, such as the Victoria Falls, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, and Cape Town in South Africa.
FlyNamibia will continue operating the domestic and regional routes of FlyWestair, including domestic routes between Windhoek's Eros Airport and Ondangwa, Rundu, and Katima Mulilo, as well as the international route between Windhoek International and Cape Town International.
Speaking at the event, Namibia's Deputy Minister of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism, Heather Sibungo, emphasised that tourism was a priority sector for economic development in Namibia’s Fifth National Development Plan and had been one of the most successful and fast-growing sectors of the Namibian economy in recent years. Tourism arrivals grew from 560,000 in 1999 to a record-high of 1.5 million in 2019, she said.
Van Schalkwyk also announced the company in 2022 would launch an aviation bursary scheme for aspiring Namibian aircraft engineers, pilots, and cabin crew.
FlyNamibia’s mother company‚ Westair Aviation (WAA, Windhoek Eros)‚ started out as an aircraft maintenance facility and flying school in 1967. It originally operated charters, transborder overnight express airfreight between Namibia and South Africa, aerial surveys all over Africa, and medical evacuation. It launched its first scheduled air transport application with the then South African Transport Commission in 1980, but was only awarded scheduled carrier status after independence by the Namibian Transport Commission and started operating as FlyWestair on June 24, 2019.
Among other aircraft, Westair Aviation owns a fleet of three Embraer regional jets, including two EMB-145MPs - V5-WEJ (msn 145342) already flying under the FlyNamibia brand and V5-WIN (msn 145285) - plus one EMB-145LI, V5-WEN (msn 14501063), the airline confirmed.
