Air Namibia Hits Turbulence in Ghana Airspace

Ghanaian authorities have put in motion attempts to block the Namibian national air carrier from operating a twice a week flight schedule on behalf of an independent airline in Ghana, the Economist has learnt.

A high level delegation from Ghana arrived in Windhoek last week to meet with officials from Air Namibia, and the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication.

Air Namibia has reached an agreement with an unspecified independent air carrier to fly its excess passengers between Ghana and the United Kingdom.

The independent air carrier is said to be inundated with excess passengers which it can no longer accommodate and had identified Air Namibia as a cost-effective and reliable airliner to partner with. The arrangement would see Air Namibia flying passengers from Ghana to the UK twice every week. This agreement is also set to bring extra cash into Air Namibia's coffers.

According to sources in the airline industry, the Abuja Treaty on intra-African air transport requires that such agreements must first be announcement after which a period should be given for objections, if any, from the affected parties.

The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority is said to have taken the advantage and objected as provided by the treaty. The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority is tasked with navigational services, air traffic services, licensing of aircraft and their personnel operating within their jurisdiction, and the regulation of the air transport industry in Ghana. It also regulates airspace over Ghana.

It has already given in writing its formal objections to both Air Namibia and the independent Ghanaian air carrier. The next step was to respond to, and address, the objections raised.

"Their objections did not carry any valid reasons," a source from the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications said last week. The meeting of last week was to consider the arguments raised in the objections from the Ghanaian officials.

Although various senior officials at the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications seemed to know of last week's meeting, none could provide more detail of what transpired in the meeting. The under secretary for air transport service, Joe Shipepe, referred all enquiries to the under secretary for civil aviation and to Kosmos Egumbo, the chief executive officer of Air Namibia. Egumbo did not respond to written questions e-mailed to his office. The Air Namibia official working on the project, Xavier Masule, was said to be out of the country.