Malawi needs USD 55 million to improve airport structures 

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Chileka-International-Airport

The Civil Aviation Authority in the country has disclosed that it requires over 55 million dollars to improve Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) in Lilongwe and Chileka Airport in Blantyre.

Principal Secretary responsible for Administration in the Ministry of Transport and Public Works Madalo Nyambosye said his ministry wants to meet some of the international civil aviation standards by 2026, which requires a lot of financial support.

Speaking when they appeared before the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament, Nyambosye said as a high-security area; aviation has highly regulated standards to which Malawi needs to adhere to.

“Some of the requirements we need to meet, such as regular training for people handling equipment and providing Aeromotive services, installation of certain equipment in terminal buildings and putting certain conditions in running ways,” she said.

She said her Ministry, in collaboration with civil aviation authors, have picked up the most critical issues to address so that by next year, the airports meet the international requirements.

“We need 35 million dollars for Kamuzu International Airport and over 20 million dollars for Chileka. However, we want to prioritize KIA to address all the critical areas before going to Chileka,” she added.

One of the areas put in place to mobilize financial resources is through the introduction of Airport Development Charges where each international passenger will be paying 10 dollars while domestic passengers will be paying 2 dollars.

The chairperson for the Legal Affairs Committee, Dr Albert Mbawala, agreed with the introduction of the charge and proposed to increase the charges as the case in other countries.

Mbawala said the situation in the country’s airports needs to be corrected as soon as possible.

“We need to collectively join the authority to address the challenges so that our airports meet international standards”, said Mbawala.

He then promised that the Committee would lobby for the resources for the improvement of airport infrastructures in the country.

He further advised them to look for other alternative means of funding to quickly address the challenges instead of depending on the money which is expected to be collected from the charges.

As part of improvement, the Civil Aviation Authority needs to construct a fence around the airports as part of security.