‘Airlines suspension affects tourism sector’

Players in the tourism sector and travel operators have said airlines’ suspension of ticketing in Malawi due to foreign currency scarcity will paralyse their operations.

Malawi Tourism Council board chairperson Johns Malili said in an interview on Thursday that the development could affect the country’s revenues realised from the sector.

He said: “This is sad for tourism, especially coming at a time when we are recovering from Covid-19. Malawi relies on international traffic for its tourism as such this will be an inconvenience for our travellers.

“We have lost a lot of money in the past two years due to the restrictions in travel. This was our time to recover, unfortunately we are facing this.”

Travel Agents Association of Malawi vice-president Sam Namathanga said the situation is of concern to the agents whose business depends on facilitating travel.

“Our major concern is our jobs as this clearly means we are now rendered jobless. We are also worried about the loss of business, which is yet to pick after the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

Namathanga said the country has 40 travel agents employing an average of 10 people each, which translates to 400 workers.

“Airlines have in recent months complained about non-remittance of money to their accounts by the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM). So, we ask government to help soon,” he said.

Kenyan Airways announced on Wednesday it had suspended ticketing in Malawi following the increasing foreign currency repatriation challenges.

The statement from the airline came barely a day after Malawi strategic airline partner Ethiopian Airlines also announced suspension of ticketing in the country.

Malawi is currently facing forex shortages with data showing that gross official reserves under the central bank’s direct control dropped by 2.83 percent to $374.48 million as at March 31 2022 from $385.40 million in February.

The drop in the reserves, according to market analysts, reflects the increasing burden on the central bank to support the foreign exchange market with liquidity.

RBM spokesperson Ralph Tseka was yet to respond to our inquiry by press time.

But RBM Governor Wilson Banda in an exclusive interview with The Nation last week indicated that the central bank is looking at both short and long-term solutions to normalise the forex situation. Earlier last month, a senior official from the aviation industry told Business News on condition of anonymity that it is impossible to rule out that some operators may suspend their businesses in Malawi.