Recently I was on a two-weeks tour around Namibia. Within this time, I also did a short side-trip from Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, to Walvis Bay at the Atlantic Coast.


Sunday, 19 August 2007
Windhoek Eros (ERS) – Walvis Bay (WVB)
Airline: Air Namibia (operated by Comav Aviation)
Flight number: SW 856
Scheduled departure time: 11:30
Scheduled arrival time: 12:20
Type of aircraft: Beechcraft 1900D
Registration: V5-OWN


This aircraft was built in 1991 and delivered to Mesa Airlines (N304YV).In 1992 it got a new registration (N4ZV) and from 1993 it was operated on behalf of USAir Express, later from 2001 for a short period on behalf of America West Express. In 2002 it was transferred to Rossair in South Africa (ZS-OWN). In 2004, still flying for Rossair, the aircraft came to Malta for painting and received additional “ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross” titles. With these titles it was used for humanitarian flights to and from Baghdad. Later the aircraft returned to Africa again, and since 2007 it is in service for Comav Aviation on behalf of Air Namibia (V5-OWN).

The only pictures of this aircraft in the database were taken at Malta in 2004:

View Large View Medium Photo © Roland Camilleri

View Large View Medium Photo © Roberto Benetti

View Large View Medium Photo © Malcolm J.Bezzina

View Large View Medium Photo © Ivan Azzopardi

I had booked the ticket for this flight 3 months before my trip on Air Namibia’s German web-site. As this site doesn’t feature “real-time” online-booking, I had to fill in a form and send it off. The next day I received an E-mail from Aviareps, a company representing foreign airlines in Germany, who told me the flight price and informed me that I would have to reply to this mail again if I wanted to book the flight. I replied and got an other E-Mail with an invoice. I had to transfer the flight price to a German bank account of Aviareps, then they sent me a classic paper ticket for my flight:



By the way: the price for this flight was EUR 124.00 + tax EUR 33.28 which made a total sum of EUR 157.28 for the return ticket.


As my hotel was located very close to the airport, I walked the short distance of about 200 metres and arrived at Windhoek Eros Airport at about 10:00:






…and here is an apron overview of Eros Airport, taken from my hotel room:



I entered the small terminal building which hosts an Air Namibia ticket counter, an information counter, a snack bar and 4 check-in counters which were still closed. One of them opened at 10:20 which was 1:10 hours before the departure of my flight. The routing of this flight was going to be Windhoek Eros (ERS) – Walvis Bay (WVB) – Lüderitz (LUD) – Oranjemund (OMD) – Cape Town (CPT). To get an impression of the geography, here is a route map taken from Air Namibia’s in-flight magazine, with Windhoek being the large point in the centre while the other destinations are located at the coast:



Quite an interesting routing, and all different parts of the route can be booked except ERS-CPT as Air Namibia is serving CPT non-stop from WDH International with B 737-200, so there is no need going there with 3 stops.

But back to check-in process: a very friendly lady from Air Namibia checked me in while a man took my luggage, put a bag tag with “WVB” on it and put it on one of three luggage carts, labelled with the 3 different destinations served by this flight. There were no computers at the counters and so I received a prepared hand-written boarding pass:



After check-in I looked around in the small terminal and found a stair, but no sign where this stair would take you. I climbed up and was positively surprised to find a small indoor viewing-area which offered some good views to the apron.

There is not much traffic at ERS. Air Namibia has based two Beech 1900 there to serve the domestic market. Small private airlines like Bay Air also offer a few scheduled domestic flights with Cessna aircraft. Besides, ERS is used mainly for sightseeing and safari flights and to take tourists and locals to the lodges or farms, as many of them have a small landing strip.

At 10:30, the Air Namibia Beech 1900D V5-OWN arrived from Ondangwa in the North of the country and taxied to a parking position on the apron:









I got downstairs again and passed security quickly and without any hassle. The atmosphere at this airport can be described as relaxed: everybody is friendly; nobody seems to be in a hurry.

The gate area consists of one room with two exits. I could watch two employees of Air Namibia cleaning our aircraft from outside. Lots of luggage was loaded into the back of the Beech 1900. The loading staff had some difficulties getting a bike inside, but finally it worked.

Boarding started at 11:25 which was 5 minutes before scheduled departure. As there are no flight attendants aboard of the Beech 1900, the gate agent handed out a meal tray to every passenger, consisting of a really tasty sandwich, a fruit juice and a candy:



Very good for a 50 minutes domestic flight, and much more than I would have expected. As it was a free-seating flight, I chose seat number C9 in the last row. The cabin of the Beech 1900 always looks quite spacious to me for such a small aircraft, which of course results also from the fact that there are no overhead-bins.

There were 14 passengers on board of this flight (as the aircraft has 19 seats, load factor was 74%), most of them seemed to be Namibians, but there were also some tourists among them.

Our flight crew consisted of a white captain and a black first officer who made the welcome and security announcement. Heb told us that our flight time on the first leg to Walvis Bay would be 40 minutes. Then we were off-block on time and taxied to the runway where we took off in Northern direction:



The apron; note the parked DC-6 which is used for sightseeing flights:



The terminal building; the large building behind the airport is the Ministry of Mines and Energy:



In the left central part of this picture you can see Safari Court Hotel where I stayed:



Suburbs of Windhoek:



Downtown Windhoek with the railway station on the lower left corner:



Katutura in the North of Windhoek, a former township:



A lake:



By the way: the windows of this aircraft were tinted heavily, that’s why the colours of some of my pictures turned out a bit strange.

Soon after leaving Windhoek behind, we were flying across the huge Namib Desert:






I’m absolutely fascinated of deserts, that’s why I took lots of pics:  









Here is an in-flight cabin shot:



Soon we were approaching Walvis Bay airport which is located some kilometres away from the coast, in the desert:



The first officer announced some turbulence due to heavy wind.


Final approach:






We touched down on the runway and taxied to a parking position on the apron where we were on-block on time. All passengers were asked to leave the aircraft at WVB, also those who wanted to continue their journey to LUD or OMD. However, hand luggage could be left in the cabin. The first officer was standing at the door and saying bye-bye to everybody.

All passengers walked the short distance to the terminal building. 4 (including me) went to the baggage claim as WVB was their final destination; the remaining 10 proceeded to the transit area for their onward flight.

A driver from my B&B lodge was awaiting me in the arrivals hall as there is no bus service to town. He apologized that we had to wait about 1 hour for another guest arriving on South African Airways from CPT which was fine for me as I could watch some more movements at this small airport.


V5-OWN on the ramp at WVB, awaiting its onward flight to Lüderitz:



After flying via LUD and OMD to CPT, this aircraft and its crew would stay for the night at Cape Town and return the same route to Windhoek ERS on the next day. This route is served daily except Saturday, and the two aircraft meet at WVB. The second aircraft was V5-OKN in all white colours, on its way back to ERS:



South African Express Fokker F 28 from JNB:



Shortly after, a Canadair Regional Jet of South African Express arrived from CPT, and the driver took the other guest and me to town.


Here are a few impressions of Walvis Bay which is famous for its lagoon:



Flamingos:









Sunset:




Monday, 20 August 2007
Walvis Bay (WVB) – Windhoek Eros (ERS)
Airline: Air Namibia (operated by Comav Aviation)
Flight number: SW 853
Scheduled departure time: 13:20
Scheduled arrival time: 14:10
Type of aircraft: Beechcraft 1900D
Registration: V5-OWN


On the next day I arrived at the airport at around noon.

The terminal building of Walvis Bay Airport from outside:



…and inside:



2 check-in counters of Air Namibia were already open (for ERS and the other direction to CPT via LUD and OMD) and a friendly male agent checked me in. Again I received a pre-written boarding pass.

2 other counters were used by SAA for flights to JNB and CPT, so the airport was quite busy at this time of the day.

At 12:30 I watched V5-OWN arriving again, as expected the same aircraft as the day before, 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Again everybody had to leave the aircraft. I counted 11 passengers.

The gate area opened at 12:35 and was quite crowded as an SAA flight to JNB would depart at around the same time. But the SAA flight was delayed a bit; it arrived at 13:15 which was 5 minutes before the scheduled departure time of our Air Namibia flight. We had to wait until the arriving SAA-passengers had entered the arrivals facilities to avoid confusion on the apron, then boarding started and we were allowed to walk the short distance to our Beech. Snack packages were distributed at the gate again, this time consisting of crisps, a chocolate bar and a fruit juice:



The same flight crew as on the outbound flight the day before welcomed us at the aircraft. This time we had a full load with 18 passengers or 95%. I took seat C8 in the second last row.

Airside terminal building at Walvis Bay Airport.



We were off-block soon, taxied to runway 27 and took off across the desert:



The routing across the Namib Desert was similar to the outbound flight the day before. Again some impressions:












After about 40 minutes we were approaching ERS again, which is surrounded by high mountains:






Again it was very windy, so the approach was a bit bumpy.

Shortly before landing:



We touched down and taxied to a parking position in front of the terminal building. The captain announced that passengers sitting in the back of the aircraft should get off first, to avoid that the plane would fall onto its back as the cargo compartment in the back was full with luggage and quite heavy as well.

The first officer accompanied an unattended child to the terminal building. All other passengers walked there as well.

A last view of V5-OWN on the ramp of ERS:



This aircraft would perform the afternoon flight to Ondangwa next. I myself collected my luggage and walked the short distance to my hotel.


Conclusion: This domestic flight on Air Namibia was an interesting experience for me. I always like taking domestic flights in other countries I visit to see the differences. Flying on Air Namibia is really pleasant with a reliable service, friendly crews in the air and on the ground, and all in all a quite relaxed atmosphere. Food service was good and more than you would get on a flight within Europe of the same length. I would definitely fly Air Namibia again when visiting the country in the future.


Thanks for reading my report. Questions and comments are always appreciated.

Regards

Christoph