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| Business |
| Malawi nods to air transport liberalisation |
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by
Joseph Langa, 31 October 2004
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09:01:48
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Malawi has agreed to have the air transport sector liberalised within the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (Comesa) region as a matter of urgency, Transport Minister Henry Mussa has said.
Mussa said at a press conference in Lilongwe Tuesday the fifth meeting of ministers of transport in the region agreed in Zambia that liberalisation of air transport be effected as soon as possible for the benefit of members states.
The move will, among other things, enable airlines in the region to operate without restrictions on capacity and frequency.
“This will ultimately benefit the public by reduction in fares, better city pair connectivity, cheaper imports and increased export potential of value goods especially that are perishable,” Mussa said on arrival from the meeting.
He said the liberalisation will help small airlines like Air Malawi to increase their market share by penetrating markets in neighbouring countries and beyond which are currently heavily protected.
“This, however, calls for creativity in route scheduling by the airline to make maximum use of the opportunities as well as careful choice of strategic partners when capacity sharing is necessary,” he said.
He noted that Air Malawi will have to offer high quality service if they are to fully benefit from the liberalisation of air transport since they will be competing with bigger airlines in the region without restrictions.
“They are getting ready to face this competition,” he said. “Our main focus as government is to protect the consumer although we also have an obligation to support our local airline”.
Mussa, however, confessed in an interview that Malawi is not ready for the process as it first needs to improve its infrastructure, mainly its major airports if the country is to fully benefit from the liberalisation of the sector.
Government is currently working on project proposals for the development of its major airports, Kamuzu International Airport (Kia) and Chileka Airport with a focus on improving the equipment, communication and human resource development, he said.
Air Malawi marketing manager Nesta Msowoya said while it is true that authorities would want to liberalise air transport under the Yamoussoukro Declaration and the Comesa-Sadc Declaration, the questions would be the timing.
“Air Malawi is looking into possibilities of upgrading its fleet so as to be able to compete on equal footing with other airlines because what this means is that we will be able to fly to other destinations without restrictions and others will also be able to come here. The market base will be competitive,” Msowoya said.
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