Malawian Airlines


Malawian Airlines Limited is the flag carrier airline of Malawi, based in Lilongwe and with its hub at Lilongwe International Airport. It was established in 2012 after the liquidation of Air Malawi, the former national airline. Ethiopian Airlines operates it under a management contract and owns 49% of the airline after it emerged as the winner following competitive bidding.

History

The airline was formed in, following the collapse of Air Malawi, the hitherto national carrier, in February 2013, as a result of inability to pay its debts. A deal with Ethiopian Airlines, that would see this carrier having a 49% shareholding in Air Malawi, was finalised in ; the agreement also contemplated the renaming of Air Malawi to Malawian Airlines Ltd.
Operations commenced on serving the Blantyre–Lilongwe domestic route using 67-seater Bombardier Q400 aircraft. Malawian launched its first international service to Harare on. Johannesburg was added to the route network two weeks later, on, and Dar es Salaam was incorporated on.

Corporate affairs

Ownership

The airline is owned by the Government of Malawi and Ethiopian Airlines. The government planned to offload 31% of its stake to private investors after a minimum period of 12 months after operations commence and it expected to earn US$6 million from this sale. In March 2016 Jimmy Lipunga, CEO of The Public Private Partnership Commission, said that plans by the Malawi government to sell some shares in the airline to members of the public would depend on the airline attaining profitability.

Business trends

Malawian Airlines has not been profitable since its launch in 2014. Few financial and other trends have been made available as yet :

20142015201620172018
Turnover
Net profit
Number of employees
Number of passengers
Passenger load factor
Number of aircraft 22222
Notes/sources

Head office

The airline's head office is in Mwai House in the city centre of Lilongwe.

Destinations

Malawian Airlines serves the following destinations, as of 2018:
CountryCityAirportStartEndRefs
KenyaNairobiJomo Kenyatta International Airport
MalawiBlantyreChileka International Airport31 1 2014
MalawiLilongweLilongwe International Airport Hub
South AfricaJohannesburgO. R. Tambo International Airport17 2 2014
TanzaniaDar es SalaamJulius Nyerere International Airport18 2 2014
ZambiaLusakaKenneth Kaunda International Airport
ZimbabweHarareHarare International Airport3 2 2014

Fleet

As of August 2019 the airline's fleet consists of the following aircraft: