I have made 4 trip to Namibia. Each time I flew Lufthansa to Franfurt, then Air Namibia down to Windhoek.

We have experienced absolutely no problems with luggage. However on our last trip, our flight was rescheduled to leave one day early. This was a MAJOR pain.

I'm going back to the Caprivi this fall, but I'm now a little reluctant to book with Air Namibia after reading about their recent problems. They have been overbooking flights, had a pilot's strike, and are having problems paying their fuel bills.

I wanted to look at flying to Windhoek via South Africa.

What is the best combination of carriers/flights for this trip?

Air Namibia should have two new planes on the Frankfurt-Windhoek route sometime this Summer. I like to avoid the SAPS fiasco at JNB whenever possible, and JNB most often means an overnight before onward flights; a waste of a day.

if you are going to the eastern Caprivi, fly into Kasane via Air Botswana from Joburg. most flight from Europe/US get into Joburg early enough to catch 1 of several daily Air Bots flights to Kasane. then have the outfitter pick you up there. i took this route in Oct and am using it again this Oct. Katima is only about 1 hour by road from Kasane...

Texas

Air Namibia have been on the rocks for years

From the us fly via Germany or London

Both country are used to handling firearms

You won't have a problem

Whatever problems might exist with Air Namibia, transiting Johannesburg has got to be an order of magnitude worse. Stick with the route you're accustomed to.

In May, my wife and I are flying Delta out of Atlanta to Johannesburg. Overnight and then on to Namibia the next morning on SAA.
We have booked AfricaSky to meet and greet plus file and get our permits to go through South Africa.
The cost for 2 is $385.00 which includes one night, dinner, breakfast, to and from airport and permits.
My son-in-law stayed there last April and said it was worth every penney.

MauserK98

quote:

Originally posted by Mauser K98:
In May, my wife and I are flying Delta out of Atlanta to Johannesburg. Overnight and then on to Namibia the next morning on SAA.
We have booked AfricaSky to meet and greet plus file and get our permits to go through South Africa.
The cost for 2 is $385.00 which includes one night, dinner, breakfast, to and from airport and permits.
My son-in-law stayed there last April and said it was worth every penney.

MauserK98

Have a great trip. Africa Sky will get you started right; they are #1 in my book. Had another good chat with them at DSC two weeks ago. It was their first time with a booth, but they will be back. BTW, if you like shrimp, tell them via email you would like the Mozambique Prawns for dinner!

We've tried non-stop (no overnights) and that was a beast. We've done the overnight in JNB at Afton - less than satisfactory experience. We've done the Frankfurt - Windhoek on Air Namibia and liked it very much. Last year we went direct from Tampa to Zurich (overnight flight) instead of Frankfurt and spent the day in Zurich then overnight flight to JNB and into WDH. This was the best so far and going this route again this year.

I would be VERY careful about trying to book the Frankfurt to Windhoek route this year due to this press release posted on there web site.

Air Namibia Press Release Ref Frankfurt-Windhoek Route


PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
NOTICE FORFRANKFURT ROUTE FREQUENCY RATIONALIZATION FROM
JANUARY 27 2013 TO JUNE 24 2013
Windhoek-10 January 2013.
This serves to notify all the esteemed and keys stakeholders of Air Namibia that, the Lease Agreements for the two Airbus A340-300 aircraft used by the airline to service the Windhoek–Frankfurt route will come to an end in mid-2013.

Air Namibia further wishes to advise that as per industry practice, the airline is obliged to execute heavy maintenance work on these aircraft in order to meet the “return conditions” of the aircraft lease agreements. This implies that, the aircraft will be withdrawn from service one at a time, to facilitate the stated maintenance activities.

The retiring Airbus A340-300 will be replaced by brand new State of the Art Airbus A330-200 aircraft expected to enter the airline’s fleet from October 2013, in line with national carrier’s
fleet renewal programme.

The above has therefore resulted in the following changes to be effected to the Frankfurt flight
schedule;
•
Effective 27 January 2013 to 24 June 2013,
•
One aircraft in operation on the route,
•
The frequencies will be reduced from 7 to 4 frequencies per week as follows:
Day of Week Flight Number Routing

Monday SW 286 Frankfurt-Windhoek

Tuesday SW 285 (morning departure) Windhoek-Frankfurt

Tuesday SW 286 Frankfurt-Windhoek

Wednesday SW 285 Windhoek-Frankfurt

Thursday SW 286 Frankfurt-Windhoek

Friday SW 285 Windhoek-Frankfurt

Saturday SW 286 Frankfurt-Windhoek

Sunday SW 285 Windhoek-Frankfurt

Effective 25 June 2013 to 30 November 2013, the schedule of 7 frequencies per week will be
restored.

From 1 December 2013 to 24 June 2014, the number of frequencies will be 6 per
week.

You can contact any nearest Air Namibia reservation/ticketing office offices for further
details:

Issued by:
Paulus Homatni Nakawa
Head: Corporate Communications
Tel: +264 61 299 6298/6216/6215
E-Mail: Paulus.Nakawa@airnamibia.aero
-
End

So much for making travel arrangements in advance. Thanks for the info.

quote:

Originally posted by m3taco:


Effective 25 June 2013 to 30 November 2013, the schedule of 7 frequencies per week will be
restored.

Phew! Looks like I'm okay then. I'm booked to hunt in Namibia the last week of Aug/first week of Sep. I am about to book flights from LON/FRA/WDH and return. I really would rather not go via JBG.