WINDHOEK, Oct. 23 (Xinhia) -- The Namibian government has rejected a 2 billion Namibian dollars (about 136 million U.S. dollars) bailout request from Air Namibia, a senior government official said Wednesday.
The flagship Namibian airline will not get the requested financial bailout it requested as it is not sustainable and comes short of the quest to create jobs, said Minister of Finance Calle Schlettwein.
"If we give them the 2 billion Namibian dollars they are asking, will that create jobs? will that deal with the economic challenges we are facing? The answer is no. So whatever we do we are at a time we need to discuss a better option for the national carrier," said the minister.
Schlettwein also said Air Namibia has also been facing challenges from other international airlines, making it difficult for it it survive.
"We have have also seen a transformation in the industry where Namibia has liberalized the airways and benefits more from other airlines than just our airline," said the minister.
"Namibia is now more connected because of this but Air Namibia still makes sense to the economy," he added.
