Air Namibia future in doubt after president runs out of patience

Air Namibia grounded all international flights not already wiped out by the coronavirus after the country’s president, Hage Geingob, said the state carrier should be liquidated. The southwest African nation’s carrier has received about 8.3b Namibian dollars ($485m) in government funding over the past two decades and Geingob said earlier this month the country “cannot afford to keep rescuing a loss-making airline.” “Air Namibia must be liquidated, we have a serious problem, it must be restructured, it is not making any profits and it is just being bailed out,” the president told lawmakers following a June 4 national address. “We must do something about it.” His comments have made some creditors and suppliers nervous, CFO Werner Schuckmann told the Namibian Sun. The airline cancelled charter flights to repatriate people stranded by coronavirus travel bans on Monday, though domestic services remain available for booking. Namibia’s borders have been closed to commercial travelers since March.<br/>