{"id":201813,"date":"2026-04-23T18:29:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/201813\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T18:29:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:29:11","slug":"botswana-and-namibia-unveil-plans-for-new-joint-airline-travel-radar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/201813\/","title":{"rendered":"Botswana and Namibia unveil plans for new joint airline &#8211; Travel Radar"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Botswanan Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport has confirmed Namibia\u2019s and Botswana\u2019s intention to establish a new joint airline. This move follows the previous liquidation of the state-owned Air Namibia and an ongoing bout of financial trouble for Botswana\u2019s own state airline, Air Botswana.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-22-155200.png\" alt=\"A small white plane with propellers sitting at an airport\" width=\"956\" height=\"585\"\/>Air Botswana has been facing significant financial issues \u00a9 Air Botswana<br \/>\nA new future for air travel in Botswana and Namibia<\/p>\n<p>Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and Botswanan President Duma Gideon Boko first proposed the plan during last year\u2019s annual Bi-National Commission held in Namibia. Following its confirmation on Friday, April 17, 2026, Botswana\u2019s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure took to social media to express optimism for the new venture, stating:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe airline will cement our relationship in the transport sector, connect Windhoek International and Gaborone directly to each other and to key regional and international destinations. Just as we lay rail across the Kalahari Desert, we will also lay flight paths across African skies together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the Windhoek Observer, Namibia is also in the process of launching a new national airline, Namibia Air, before the end of the year. Operating models are being reviewed by a technical team, including potential partnerships with companies such as Ethiopian Airlines. No launch date has yet been set.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-22-155643.png\" alt=\"A man wearing a suit looking at the camera with a blue light in the background\" width=\"951\" height=\"508\"\/>Botswana\u2019s President Duma Boko made the announcement alongside the Namibian president \u00a9 AFP<br \/>\nWhy a new airline could benefit Botswana and Namibia<\/p>\n<p>Namibia\u2019s national airline, Air Namibia, was liquidated by the country\u2019s government in 2021 after accruing 3 billion Namibian dollars (over \u00a3135 million) in debt.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Windhoek Observer, Namibia\u2019s former finance minister, Ipumbu Shiimi, explained that the national airline\u2019s financial position had been worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic and it had been unable to recover. Attempts to find partners, including Lufthansa, KLM, British Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways, were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n<p>Air Botswana, while still in operation, is also in trouble. In March, the <a href=\"https:\/\/travelradar.aero\/air-botswana-scraps-three-routes-to-cut-losses\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">airline cut three of its flight routes i<\/a>n an effort to negate ongoing financial losses. This included flights to destinations such as Durban and Cape Town. Reportedly, these routes incurred a loss of 44.5 million Botswanan Pula (about \u00a32.3 million) for the airline over the course of a nine-month period.<\/p>\n<p>It has not yet been confirmed exactly when the new airline is expected to launch.<\/p>\n<p>Do you think this move will benefit Botswana and Namibia\u2019s air travel industries? Let us know in the comments below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Botswanan Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport has confirmed Namibia\u2019s and Botswana\u2019s intention to establish a new joint&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201814,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102],"class_list":{"0":"post-201813","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-namibia","8":"tag-namibia"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/116455444710540538","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}