According to southerntimesafrica, Air Namibia has suspended its flights to Gaborone in Botswana, due to low passenger volumes.
The Namibian national carrier introduced the route a year ago and initially operated three flights a week, before the flight schedule changed to include a fourth flight, when Air Namibia re-arranged its network. Air Namibia General Manager Commercial Services Xavier Masule recently revealed that there is limited traffic on the route, and although they had frequent flyers, the levels were not sufficient. “We captured 86% market share, but this translates to a load factor of 35%, meaning that even if we had 100% market share, we would still have a load factor of less than 45%,” he said.
According to Masule, for Air Namibia to break even at 50% load factor, they would need to increase fares by 106%. But, he also warned that fares are already too high to even consider increasing, given that passengers have the option of competitors via Johannesburg. Air Namibia will, however, continue the Maun route, which they say is critical for the transportation of tourists from Botswana and Namibia.