Albertina Nakale
The tourism sector has welcomed Qatar Airways’ decision to resume direct return flights from Doha to Windhoek by July this year. At the moment, the direct (non-stop) flights between Windhoek-Doha have been inactive.
With Qatar back in July, the tourism sector expressed this move will most certainly bring huge relief to the industry keen to see arrival numbers grow.
This came to light after President Hage Geingob held a meeting with the group chief executive of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al-Baker in the Qatari capital, Doha.
“Qatar Airways plan on restarting operations to Namibia. They intend to commence flights from July 2022, beginning with two flights a week, which eventually can be ramped up to daily flights. The CEO, Akbar Al Baker noted that Qatar is convinced that Namibia has great potential when it comes to tourism and with the right investments, Namibia could become a world-class destination. Between Qatar Airways and the Qatar Investment Authority, Namibia can forge strong and enduring socio-economic bonds with committed partners,” announced presidential press secretary Alfredo Hengari yesterday.
The environment and tourism ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said the direct flight resumption is good news for Namibia, and the ministry welcomes it.
Muyunda noted any air traffic to Namibia comes with a number of opportunities for the people and economy.
“We are particularly happy that this will boost the tourism sector which is currently severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. This could not have come at a better time when as a country, we are trying to revive the sector amid the pandemic. This is the boost our revival initiative requires,” he said.
The ministry also believes such a decision will instill a sense of confidence in other airlines to fly to Namibia. Tour operators are urged to use this opportunity to fly in their clients, adhering to set entry requirements to the country.
This, Muyunda said will help to further…