5 new airlines eye Malawi skies
Five new airlines will soon fly the Malawi skies, a situation authorities say will bring competition in the air transport in the country.
The five new airlines to hit the Malawi skies are Lake Star Express , Khama, Sim-Air, Fly-Tech Group and Sub Saharan Airlines.
Officials from the tourism sector have welcomed the intention by five new airlines to operate in Malawi, saying it has a potential to boost the country’s economic growth.
The development comes as the nation has only one operational air carrier; the Malawi Airlines, a situation which for years has left the industry with no competition from multiple players.
Jones Malili, spokesperson for the Malawi Tourism Council, expressed delight with the development.
Malili said this will boost revenue generation in the tourism sector, once the airlines become operational.
However, Timothy Banda of Lilongwe doubted the seriousness of these so called investors who instead of going it solo must have consolidated their investment into a giant pot to service the country better and challenge The Malawian Airlines which is costing taxpayers a fortune.
“We must move into partnership approaches than trying be the richest person by oneself. Consolidate the resources to form a big airline that can serve the country better,” said Banda.
Malawi has had a number of aviation ventures which have failed to live past year one due to low demand and investment.
Aviation requires serious government investment especially in infrastructure development. Passengers see no real value for money to fly between two cities on a three city trip. They know that the connection between air travel and coach/bus can be a real hassle and nightmare. Only seamless inter-modal connectivity reaps high profits.
This can be achieved by allowing better contractual arrangements amongst inter-modal providers but may well involve subsidies. Bus operators can transit via local airports before city centre stops; but may well require compensation for non-peak periods. so some serious deregulation is needed.
Wow thats nice to hear
Great news!
Timothy Banda’s thought is rather uncouth.
Doubt the safety records though. Seem all are small players
Not inspiring. They all look like fake gimmick to me, failures before they even start.