South Africa's Airlink gains Namibian 5th freedom rights

S. Africa's Airlink resumes Madagascar ops after ban lifted

Airlink (South Africa) (4Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) will restart scheduled services between Johannesburg O.R. Tambo and Antananarivo from January 30 following a decision by Madagascar to lift an effective three-year ban on commercial flights to/from South Africa.

Madagascar removed all Covid-19 travel restrictions on March 3, 2022, but continued to block all flights to/from South Africa, a ban extended on October 15, 2022, particularly affecting Airlink, the only scheduled operator on the route.

As confirmed by Madagascar's Council of Ministers on July 13, 2022, the reason was a dispute between Antananarivo and Pretoria over 73.5 kilograms of smuggled gold and USD20,000 seized at Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport on December 31, 2020, from three passengers who had arrived from Madagascar on a chartered flight.

The Malagasy government demanded the return of the treasure and the extradition of its nationals, now jailed in South Africa. The route to South Africa stayed closed pending the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two nations to combat the smuggling of national resources.

Namibian lessor buys ex-Air Namibia E135s

Namibian aircraft lessor Wings Aviation Services has acquired two ex-Air Namibia E135s, the liquidators have confirmed to the Namibian Sun, but there appears to be bad blood from bidders who lost out on the sale.

According to ch-aviation research, Wings Aviation Services (Proprietary) Limited has been registered in Namibia (then South West Africa) since March 5, 1957. Two of its directors, Wolfgang Grellmann and Gustav Holz, are also the founder/chairman and group managing director, respectively, of the WestAir Group, a 40% shareholder of FlyNamibia (WV, Windhoek Eros).

Grellman and Holz confirmed to the Namibian Sun that Wings Aviation Services had purchased the jets but said they could not immediately be put into service as they were not airworthy. They had stood for more than three years and needed complete refurbishment and heavy maintenance. Once repaired, they would be leased out to clients, the list of which included FlyNamibia.

“Wings Aviation Services is a 100% Namibian-owned aircraft leasing company. It holds a number of aircraft that [are] being leased to airlines and aviation...

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