Namibian President Hage Geingob waits to deliver his state of the nation address to parliament in Windhoek, capital of Namibia, on June 4, 2020. (Photo by Tirivangani Masawi/Xinhua)
WINDHOEK, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Namibian President Hage Geingob on Thursday proposed the liquidation of the country's flag carrier Air Namibia.
Speaking to lawmakers while giving the State of the Nation Address, Geingob said since the airline was not making a profit, the country could not afford to keep rescuing it.
"Air Namibia must be liquidated, we have a serious problem with Air Namibia. It must be restructured. It is not making any profits and it is just being bailed out. We must do something about it," Geingob said.
In October 2019, the airline has been forced to cut its operating costs to the bone after the treasury refused a 2-billion-Namibian-dollar (118 million U.S. dollars) bailout, and warned in November that it might be forced to shut down operations if it did not receive a rescue package.
The situation has been made dire by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, which saw the airline freeze operations for about two months as the country was on lockdown. Enditem
