Malawi Airlines set to fly to more destinations

Malawian Airlines Limited which takes to sky this week, will fly to more destinations than its successor, Air Malawi, a development that will give Malawians a wider choice of air transport, the Public Private Partnership Commission (PPPC) has said.

Jimmy Lipunga, chief executive officer (CEO) of PPPC, a government agency that brokered the deal with Ethiopian Airlines (ET) which holds 49 percent stake, said the new airline will commence services following a high-profile ceremony to be announced by government.

“The commission is pleased to inform the nation that all the preparatory works preluding to the commencement of the service have now been completed,” he told journalists in Blantyre on Friday, marking the commission’s turning point in their involvement to establish the new airline.

Lipunga said management of the company will announce details regarding the routes to be initially operated and the strategic direction.

Already, the new airline has recruited 46 employees during the initial phase and more staff will be recruited as the revenue base increases over the next several months.

“The employees include six pilots and 15 cabin crew. The rest of the employees are in respect of maintenance, sales and marketing and finance and administration departments,” said Lipunga.

The Malawi Government has a 51 percent stake in the airline, of which 31 percent will have to be taken up by Malawian individuals and institutions within 12 months after the commencement of the operations.

Lipunga said the government needed to have a majority control to protect the bilateral air services agreements (Basas) with various bilateral States.

ET made an initial investment of $20 million [K9 billion, at the current exchange rates] with the Malawi Government investing $10.2 million [K4.5 billion] to be disbursed in two tranches, the first being $4 million [K1.8 billion] and remainder at a later stage.

The Department of Civil aviation on January 3 2014 issued an Airline Operating Certificate (AOC) to the new airline, a critical step towards the rolling out of the service by the airline.

ET has made available two aircrafts, Boeing 737-800 for prime regional destinations and a Bombardier Q400 for mostly low traffic regional destinations and they will be delivered to Malawian Airlines on Wednesday this week at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe, according to Lipunga.

Lipunga said the new company will increase the number of aircrafts in response to the demand on the market, but said in the present scenario, two aircrafts are enough.

The company has filled up almost all the management positions by Ethiopian nationals, as per the agreement, headed by Kassim Geresu as the CEO.

It is expected that the airline will operate regional flights to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania and Angola with domestic flights in Lilongwe, Blantyre and Mzuzu.