Malawian Airlines Boeing 737-700© Malawi Airlines
01.11.2023 – 07:56 UTC
Malawi Airlines (3W, Lilongwe) has announced plans for a regional network expansion to Mozambique, Rwanda, and Uganda following the recent addition of a B737-700 sourced from minority shareholder Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International).
Featuring 116 seats in economy and two in business, ET-AVP (msn 33787) arrived in Lilongwe from Addis Ababa International on October 23, according to ADS-B data. It will boost capacity in response to growing demand and assist in the national carrier’s regional network expansion plans, Charles Ngambi, the airline’s commercial manager, told The Nation newspaper. He said routes to be added to the airline’s daily flight schedules included Pemba, MZ and Nampula in Mozambique; Kigali in Rwanda; Entebbe/Kampala in Uganda; and another evening flight to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo in South Africa.
The B737-700 has replaced DHC-8-Q400 ET-AQB (msn 4419) which has since returned to Ethiopian. Malawian also operates a 154-seater B737-800, ET-APO (msn 40963), serving high-volume regional routes like Blantyre, Lilongwe, Johannesburg, and Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya). The B737-800 was introduced in December 2022 and replaced an earlier B737-700 sourced from Ethiopian Airlines.
The Malawi government holds a 51% stake, and Ethiopian Airlines 49% in the joint venture national airline. It received its air operator’s certificate (AOC) on January 3, 2014, and replaced the 49-year-old state-owned Air Malawi, which went out of business in 2013.