MALICIOUS REPORT ON LUGGAGE TAMPERING AT HKIA

19 Dec 2019

We hereby express our disappointment with a report in The Namibian Newspaper on Air Namibia flight SW729, Windhoek to Johannesburg, passengers’ luggage that was tampered with on Tuesday 17 December 2019.

The Namibian report suggests that the tampering could have happened at Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA) due to a power failure.

We can also confirm that Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA) experienced a power dip around 17h00 on Wednesday, 18 December 2019  and within 15 seconds our stand-by generators kicked in to continue the power supply to the airport, well in line with the with regulatory requirements.

This morning, in conjunction with our security stakeholders, we have reviewed CCTV footage at our disposal to establish if the tampering happened at our airport and preliminary report indicate that no tampering occurred at our facility.

It is important to note that Air Namibia are designated ground handlers at the airport and handle their own passengers’ luggage and abide by measures in place to ensure utmost security of passengers’ luggage.

NAC reminds passengers to remain vigilant at all times during this festive season and urge verification of information before publishing reports that could bring our name into disrepute.