Source: Business Express

Oil and gas discoveries in Namibia are transforming the nation into a high-end business travel destination from a tourist locale for a South African airline.

TotalEnergies SE and Shell Plc have found an estimated 11 billion barrels of oil reserves in Namibia, in what is touted as potentially the biggest-ever deep water find. The country, that is yet to produce crude
or gas, has become an exploration hot spot for oil majors and their employees, according to SA Airlink
Pty Ltd. Sparsely populated Namibia home to tourist attractions such as the Skeleton Coast and the
Namib desert has an estimated $1 trillion of crude that has oil firms making a beeline to the nation. The
southern African nation is also courting investors in its attempt to become a green hydrogen production
hub for Europe given that the region has some of the world’s best solar radiation.


“While Namibia is a great leisure destination, the discovery and now the commercialization of oil and
gas, as well as green hydrogen, is transforming it into a business travel destination,” Airlink’s Chief Executive Officer Rodger Foster said in a recent TV interview. “A lot of our travel is high-end business travel that is not as sensitive, and not as commoditized as other airline travel.


Airlink has added flights to Walvis Bay and Namibia’s capital Windhoek and now has 63 return trips a week to the neighboring country. The company acquired a 40% stake in Fly Namibia two years ago. The carrier has seen similar business travel routes develop by people working in the oil and gas sector, and mines in the region such as Mozambique, Foster said. The airline, which has been operating on the continent for 32 years, is considering expanding regionally. It will need to procure aircraft with about 180 seats “in due time,” for the plan, Foster said.

Airlink currently runs largely an Embraer fleet. It had partnered with South African Airways for many
years, that had access to larger aircraft. That venture ended when the flag-carrier defaulted on certain
agreements, and went into a business rescue during the pandemic. “If we want to grow the business where we are not that competent at the moment, we need to step up into larger aircraft for instance, and that would entail capital,” said Foster, without disclosing how the company plans to raise funding.

Airlink also has interline agreements with Qatar Airways and Emirates to provide passengers with connectivity through Cape Town and Johannesburg to additional destinations within southern Africa.
Qatar Airways plans to invest in an unidentified airline based in southern Africa, the carrier said in
May. Foster declined to say if Airlink was the partner, adding that “we have those conversations but we do
not any irrevocable binding agreement with any of our partners as we speak.”

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Managing the Namibia Oil and Gas Platform

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Managing the Namibia Oil and Gas Platform

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