The Minister for Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has told the Namibian Ambassador to Nigeria, Humphrey Geiseb, that a Nigeria Carrier, XEJET, could be a potential partner with the country in its willingness to establish a direct flight between Nigeria and Windhoek.
This was made known through a statement made available to KUKURUKU Online by the minister’s aide, Tunde Moshood, on Thursday.
Speaking during his visit to Keyamo, Geiseb disclosed that Namibia is currently in discussion with Air Peace on the restoration of direct air connectivity between the two countries.
He did not, however, state the stage of the discussion with Air Peace on direct air connectivity, but expressed his country’s desire to partner with Nigerian airlines.
“Our country’s desire to partner with Nigerian airlines to restore direct connectivity, citing ongoing discussions with Air Peace” he said, while encouraging Keyamo to engage with domestic airlines to explore potential collaboration opportunities.
While highlighting the historical importance of Air Namibia’s operations between the two countries, Geiseb also noted that the national carrier previously connected Lagos to Accra and played a key role in facilitating travel between Namibia and Nigeria.
He added that “Unfortunately, Air Namibia faced financial difficulties and was eventually forced to cease operations following a government bailout.”
Geiseb emphasised that currently, it remains challenging to directly connect Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, with Nigeria, with travelers having to transit through Addis Ababa.
“While there are occasional flights via TAG Airlines, they are not frequent enough to meet the demand for seamless travel between the two nations,” he said.
Responding, Keyamo expressed his support while sharing a personal experience regarding the challenges of establishing direct flights in the region.
The ministers referenced the successful Algeria/Lagos/Cameroon flight route, which was initiated after the Algerian Ambassador proposed a direct connection, despite the close proximity between Nigeria and Cameroon.
The minister, however, mentioned “that one of Nigeria’s fast-rising domestic carriers, Xejet, which currently operates Sierra Leone’s national carrier, Air Sierra Leone, could be a potential partner in this venture.”
Geiseb assured the minister that he would engage his counterpart, Namibia’s Minister of Aviation, to arrange a possible visit to further strengthen the aviation cooperation between both countries.
Additionally, the minister raised an issue of the visa challenges between Nigeria and Namibia, recalling his recent difficulties obtaining a visa despite holding a diplomatic passport.
He urged the Ambassador to work “towards resolving these issues to facilitate smoother travel and to open doors for more trade and investment relations between the two countries. Both envoys agreed to collaborate on these matters to improve bilateral ties.”
