Chaos at Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH) due to ground handling crisis
The Namibia Airports Company (NAC), the state-owned operator of eight of Namibia's largest airports, announced on 19 August 2023 that Menzies Aviation, the provider of ground handling services at Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH) in Windhoek since 2014, has been evicted from the airport on the same day, so that its successor, Paragon Investment Holdings, could take over.
Menzies Aviation ceased providing its services at the airport on 18 August 2023. The eviction follows months of legal wrangling in which Menzies Aviation contested a High Court judgment authorising its eviction from Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH).
However, the overnight replacement by Paragon Investment Holdings resulted in chaos at the airport. For instance, a total of eight Eurowings Discover flights had to be cancelled. Two more flights had to be diverted to OR Tambo International Airport (JNB) in Johannesburg on the morning of 19 August 2023.
Qatar Airways was also forced to cancel operations between Doha and Windhoek.
South African regional carrier Airlink, which operates up to four flights a day between Johannesburg and Windhoek and up to three a day between Cape Town and Windhoek, pulled together a team from South Africa to assist the Windhoek sales team to maintain its services and to process passenger check-in and supervise the new ground handler with its ramp services.
