Air Namibia to change A340's to A330's
 

Would the A330-300 not have been a better choice for the Air Namibia operation !?!

From the local german paper:

Airbus-duo to be replaced

Windhoek - in the course of the fleet renewal Air Namibia will exchange the two current aircraft of the type A340-300, those that operate on the international route (Windhoek Frankfurt/M. - Windhoek).
They are to be replaced at the beginning of 2013 by two aircraft of the type Airbus A330-200, announced Theo Namases, acting manager of Air Namibia.
The new aircraft are to be leased just like the current two large airbus aircraft, from Intrepid in the USA, explained Jonas Sheelongo, director of the Department of Technology and Enterprise, when asked by the AZ.
They are „younger than two years “ and thus nearly new.
And: „The A330 is nearly identically constructed to the A340. But it has only two engines contrary to four engines on the A340. That means less maintenance costs and lower fuel consumption.
“We are still negotiating the terms and duration of the lease“, said Sheelongo.
Within three years - from 2011 to 2013 - Air Namibia will renew its airplane fleet by the purchase and leasing of aircraft - amongst them four Airbus A319s, four Embaer regional jet ERJ 135 and two Airbus A330-200.

By Stefan Fischer

Airbus-Duo wird ersetzt

Windhoek– Im Zuge der Flottenerneuerung bei Air Namibia wird die staatliche Fluggesellschaft auch die beiden Airbus-Flieger vom Typ A340-300 austauschen, die auf der internationalen Route (Windhoek-Frankfurt/M.-Windhoek) verkehren. Sie sollen Anfang 2013 durch zwei Maschinen des Typs Airbus A330-200 ersetzt werden, kündigte Theo Namases, amtierende Geschäftsführerin von Air Namibia, jetzt an.

Die neuen Flieger würden – wie die jetzigen beiden großen Airbus-Maschinen auch – geleast, und zwar von der Firma Intrepid (USA), erklärte Jonas Sheelongo, Leiter der Abteilung Technik und Betrieb, auf AZ-Nachfrage. Sie seien „jünger als zwei Jahre“ und somit fast neuwertig, führte er aus. Und: „Der A330 ist fast baugleich mit dem A340. Aber er hat nur zwei Triebwerke im Gegensatz zu vier Triebwerken beim A340. Das bedeutet weniger Wartungsaufwand und -kosten sowie geringerer Treibstoffverbrauch.“ Über die Leasingdauer „verhandeln wir noch“, sagte Sheelongo abschließend.

Binnen drei Jahren – von 2011 bis 2013 – erneuert Air Namibia seine Flugzeugflotte durch den Kauf und das Leasen von Maschinen – darunter vier Airbus A319s, vier Embaer-Regional-Jet ERJ 135 und zwei Airbus A330-200.
Von Stefan Fischer

The A340's are coming off lease and BCI the American leasing company who have been surrounded by controversy are to take redelivery. Air Namibia may have woken up to the fact that the maintenance reserves they have duly paid over the term of the lease may have been co-mingled with other BCI leased aircraft reserves, so the stage is set for a messy return of the A340's.

The latest on the BCI trial is at BCI Aircraft Leasing Owner Guilty in $50 Million Fraud Case - Businessweek

Like the thread title, how they going to do that then (just bin a motor each side I guess :rolleyes:)

Ah, I see now, "change A340's FOR A330's" :p

Please accept my humblest apologies for this outrageously misleading header.

Having to translate the entire article from German to English, may occasionally result in shear vandalism of the english language.

I am off now to arrange a suitable punishment for myself.

I remain your humble servant.

Naja....
 

'Shear vandalism?' What were you using as a translation tool then, secateurs?

I like the title just the way it is. Do carry on!

The two A340s that are operated by Air Namibia now are very close to their max airframe hours. Their lease was supposed to run out somewhere between September and November 2012. However, by then there wouldn't have been enough time left to find a different lease customer for them, but too much to simply scrap them. So Air Namibia was made a very good offer on the extension of the lease in order for them to "finish off" the hours left on the air frame, before exchanging the old A340s for newer A330s. Apparently the conditions were good enough to compensate for the higher operating costs during the extended lease period of the A340s.