Namibia recorded a sharp increase in passenger movements across its airports in August 2026, with total arrivals and departures rising by 17.1% month-on-month to 114 497, driven largely by increased traffic through Hosea Kutako International Airport and Walvis Bay Airport.
According to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), the Passenger Movement Composite Index, which measures international, regional, and domestic passenger arrivals and departures across all airports, rose 17.1% from 7.7% in July.
However, annual growth remained modest, with the index up just 1% from August 2025, when passenger movements grew 7.9%.
The NSA said that, in absolute terms, the 114 497 passenger movements recorded in August were up from 97 796 in July and slightly above the 113 399 recorded during the same month last year.
Hosea Kutako International Airport continued to dominate the country's aviation sector, accounting for 85% of all passenger movements during the review period. Walvis Bay Airport followed with a 9.1% share, while Eros Airport accounted for 3.6%. All other airports collectively contributed the remaining 2.2%.
At Hosea Kutako International Airport, arrivals increased by 6.7% month-on-month to 48 232, up from 45 206 in July. This represented marginal annual growth of 0.2% compared to the 48 136 arrivals recorded in August last year.
Departures through the country's main international gateway showed a much stronger monthly increase, climbing by 30.2% to 49 092 passengers from 37 716 in July. Compared to August 2025, departures increased by 2.7% from 47 803.
It said that Walvis Bay Airport recorded particularly strong growth, with passenger arrivals increasing by 24.8% month-on-month to 5 020 in August, compared to 4 023 in July. This was also 15.4% higher than the 4 349 arrivals recorded in August 2025.
Departures from Walvis Bay Airport also increased significantly, rising by 18.4% month-on-month to 5 450 passengers, compared to 4 604 in July. Year-on-year, departures grew by 25.3% from 4,351 recorded in August 2025.
Eros Airport also recorded a monthly recovery in both arrivals and departures, although passenger numbers remained significantly below those of the previous year.
Arrivals increased by 3.6% month-on-month to 2,026 passengers, reversing the 17.6% decline recorded in July. However, this was 16.7% lower than the 2 432 arrivals registered in August 2025.
Departures rose by 6% to 2 148 passengers, compared to 2 026 in July. On an annual basis, departures declined by 13.4% from 2 480 recorded in August last year.
The August figures point to a broad monthly recovery in passenger traffic across Namibia's main airports, particularly at Walvis Bay and Hosea Kutako. However, the modest 1% annual increase in the overall Passenger Movement Composite Index indicates that the improvement in monthly activity has yet to translate into stronger year-on-year growth.
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