Malawi Airlines suspends flight operations

Malawi Airlines (3W, Lilongwe) says it has suspended all flights for the period March 26 to 31 citing unspecified operational reasons. Affected passengers have been offered alternate travel arrangements including transit via Addis Ababa through 49% shareholder, Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa). Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows the airline’s only active aircraft, B737-700 ET-ARB (msn 30687), was ferried from Lilongwe to Addis Ababa on March 22 presumably for maintenance. Pre-COVID, it had also operated a single Dash 8-400, ET-AQB (msn 4419). Malawi Airlines is a 51/49 venture between the Malawian government and Ethiopian. Its network includes flights between the central African state’s two largest cities, Blantyre and Lilongwe, as well as to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo (both) and Dar es Salaam (Lilongwe only). In February, it warned that despite the reopening of airports across southern Africa late last year, it had yet to see a resurgence in demand. “For sure, passenger numbers are very low and there are no indications that passenger numbers will grow in the short term,” the carrier’s public relations officer, Joseph Josiah, told Capital FM at the time.