Inside a lease strangling Air Namibia

By Hilary Mare

A damning 2014 forensic investigation into various alleged irregularities at Air Namibia by audit firm, Deloitte has emerged, detailing how Air Namibia entered into highly inflated lease agreements worth US$1.6 million per month with aircraft provider Intrepid, for two Airbus A330 aircraft to ply the Frankfurt route.

While the report (which was quietly swept under the carpet) found that Air Namibia forced through an agreement which would see them pay US$785 000 per air craft at floating exchange rate for 12 years against the advice of International Air Transport Association (IATA), which at the time suggested that Air Namibia rather consider leasing second-hand A330 aircraft at approximately US$450 000 per month.

Confidente understands that at this stage, the financial situation at Air Namibia was already precarious.

Air Namibia entered into an aircraft lease agreement with Intrepid for two new A330-200 aircraft and took delivery of these in September and November 2013, respectively.

Confidente can confirm that with the unsustainable accumulation of costs over the years, the total costs of subleasing the two A330 is US$89.6 million (N$1.5 billion) from January 2021.