Malawi Airlines touts 2018 business strides
By Chimwemwe Mangazi:
The Malawi Airlines has rated the past two years as good for business, evidenced by continued rise in number of passengers flying with the airliner.
Figures from the Malawi Airlines show that the number of passengers went up by 82 percent from 90,000 2013 to 164,000 in 2018.
Malawi Airlines Chief Executive Officer, Hailemelekot Mamo, said in an interview the airliner expects the numbers to grow to over 200,000 passengers this year.
“Currently, we are connecting seven cities and our objective in running the airline is to see more people flying into Malawi for the country to benefit,” Mamo said.
Under the terms of the agreement, Ethiopian Airlines have a 49 percent shareholding in the company while the Malawi government and other private investors hold 51 percent.
In 2017, some members of Parliament proposed that the arrangement be reviewed.
The airline was established in 2012 after the liquidation of Air Malawi, the former national airline.
Ethiopian Airlines operates it under a management contract after it emerged as the winner following competitive bidding.
Its operations commenced in January 2014 serving the Blantyre– Lilongwe domestic route using 67-seater Bombardier Q400 aircraft.
The company launched its first international service to Harare, Zimbabwe, in February 2014 and Johannesburg, South Africa, was added to the route network two weeks later,] and Dar es Salaam (Tanzinia) was incorporated on 18 February.
