Air Malawi told to offload one aircraft

Government has advised Air Malawi to sell one of its two Boeing 737 aircrafts which have been stuck in South Africa for several years due to non-payment of repair charges and use the proceeds to bring back one of them into operation.

The two planes, a Boeing 737 300 christened Kwacha and the Boeing 737 500 named Sapitwa, have been grounded in South Africa since 2008 where they went for routine services.

Both Minister of Transport and Public Works Sidik Mia and Air Malawi's Acting board chairperson Vizenge Kumwenda have confirmed the development to Business Times, admitting that keeping the two aircraft for so long without service has proved to be a costly exercise.

In an exclusive interview last week, Mia said it is up to Air Malawi's board to make a decision on the matter but the airline's continued reliance leased aircraft for its operations was "as good as closing down".

"Air Malawi is an independent firm with a professional board and management which we know is capable of making decisions and delivering results."

"We are aware that the Kwacha [Boeing 737 300] is in a better condition than the other plane [ Sapitwa - Boeing 737 500]. Our suggestion to them is that they should the other plane [Sapitwa] and use the proceeds to bring back the Kwacha," said Mia.

He observed that apart from paying for the repair charges, the cost of bringing back the two airplanes would include warehousing fees accumulated during the whole period the planes have spent in the hangars in South Africa.

Speaking in a separate, Kumwenda said Air Malawi's management is considering the option as suggested by government while at the same time exploring ways on how to still remain in business sustainably.

"There are models that may work here like not owning planes but we have made several recommendations to the shareholder [government], one of them is to institute a study on how best Air Malawi can be run," said Kumwenda.

He said the current board of directors -- which took charge last year, discovered that Air Malawi was sitting on huge debts that have been accumulating a long period of time.

"The debt is in excess of K4 billion. This is huge and would need a fresh capital investment from the shareholder to clear it," said Kumwenda.

He said however Malawi has a good market for air travel that provides an opportunity for the revival of Air Malawi as a vibrant airline for the local and regional markets.

"The number of airlines interested to fly into the country and others wanting to increase their frequency of services is a good sign that there is big business on the market. But the challenge is on how to explore this because it is all about normalising our financial position so that we should start focusing on marketing," said Kumwenda.

Air Malawi is 100 percent owned by Malawi government.

Commenting on the Air Malawi situation, Malawi Institute of Engineers MIE President Matthews Mtumbuka said the delays to service the two aircraft are risky and costly because the many moving parts of the planes that have been idle may require replacement.

"Planes have a lot of moving parts and instead of addressing the initial problems that developed on the two aircraft four years ago, other faults may have developed on the machines that require attention and servicing," observed Mtumbuka.

He called upon Air Malawi and government to speed up the matter and ensure that the two aircraft are in good flying conditions before bringing them into the country for resumption of services.

Source:  http://www.bnltimes.com