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National flag carrier Air Malawi on Tuesday added a 19-seater Let 410 to its fleet in a move board chairman Thomas Kanyuka described as the first step in the airline’s plans to increase fleet and establish new routes.
Kanyuka said in an interview during the official launch of the aircraft at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe that it was valued at about K250 million (US$2.3 million). It has been bought from the Czech Republic.
He said Air Malawi is also in the final stages of buying a Boeing 737 300 or 500 series by early next year.
During its inaugural flight from Blantyre to Lilongwe, it took about 35 minutes to cover the distance compared to 45 minutes by the bigger ATR 42 and about 25 minutes by Boeing 737-300.
Kanyuka said Let 410, which can cruise at up to 386 kilometres per hour, is one of the popular aircraft because of low maintenance costs, has twin engines despite being small, ability to fly at night, has three-hour airborne endurance and toilet facility unlike the crashed 12-seater Cessna it has replaced.
He said of the K270 million, Air Malawi raised K87.2 million (US$800,000) from insurance claims and sell of the Cessna wreckage while K163.5 million (US$1.5 million) has been borrowed from Stanbic Bank Malawi Limited and National Bank of Malawi.
Following the coming of Let 410, Kanyuka said, Air Malawi has been able to reintroduce flights to Club Makokola in Mangochi and Nampula in Mozambique. He said Mzuzu travellers will also now have seamless connections to Johannesburg in South Africa, thrice a week and once to Nairobi in Kenya.
Air Malawi chief executive Esther Chioko said the acquisition of the new aircraft has been done in a quest to improve services and meet emerging trends in the aviation industry.
“One major constraint to our operations had been schedule inflexibility due to lack of equipment. But from October 1, we are now providing same-day return for the business community between Blantyre and Lilongwe,” she said.
Chioko said Let 410 will increase the airline’s capacity by 30 percent and improve its revenue base.
In his remarks, Transport and Public Works Minister Henry Mussa said President Bingu wa Mutharika has named Let 410 ‘Rukuru’ after Rukuru River in the Northern Region. The current Boeing is called Kwacha while the ATR 42 is Shire.
Mussa said delivery of the new aircraft was “a very rare achievement” for the national airline in an environment which has recently been characterised by adverse economic factors due to various unforeseen events globally.
The launching ceremony was witnessed by, among others, European Union head of delegation Wiepke van der Goot and Taiwanese ambassador Hsi Tsan Chen, cabinet ministers George Chaponda (Foreign Affairs), Yusuf Mwawa (Education), Davis Katsonga (Environment), Henry Chimunthu Banda (Sports and Culture) and Roy Commsy (Deputy Minister for Transport).
Financiers’ representative National Bank of Malawi chief executive Isaac Nsamala and Stanbic Bank’s Asset-Based Financing Division head Douglas Kamwendo were also on the guest list that included frequent flyers and Reserve Bank of Malawi governor Elias Ngalande and his depouty Mary Nkosi.
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