Namibia's national carrier, Air Namibia (SW), is set to take delivery of two Airbus A319s (MSN 5366 | V5-ANM) and (MSN 5400 | V5-ANN) following a handing over ceremony in Hamburg, Germany last week. |
| Air Namibia A319 V5-ANM in Hamburg (XFWSpotter) |
The two new aircraft come as part of a fleet modernisation programme, which will also include two Airbus A330-200s, leased from US-based ACMI Intrepid, arriving in October next year to replace the airline's ageing Airbus A340 fleet, and will be used on Air Namibia's regional routes between Windhoek
and Johannesburg, Cape Town, Luanda and Accra, currently plied by Boeing 737-500s.
The two will complement two other ex Air Berlin (AB) Airbus A319-100 aircraft already in
use since October 2011 via an eight year lease from DVB Bank of Germany.
During the visit, Air Namibia's General Manager for Commercial Services, Xavier Masule, said:
"After looking at other aircraft types including the new Boeing B737-800 , Air Namibia settled for the Airbus A319-100 as the better from the options we had to select from. The Airbus A319-100 was found to be best-suited for our environment and market situation, primarily looking at correct cabin size, given the demand on the various routes where it will be deployed, cost effectiveness, commonality with the Airbus A340-300 used on the long haul flight to Frankfurt (this translates to cost saving ito crew training), dispatch reliability record, as well as new generation design and technology."
Source [The Namibian Economist]
It is not immediately clear when the aircraft will touch down in Windhoek as the date will only be known after
Air Namibia receives the delivery notification and all documentation has
been signed, including the change of ownership.
