Ethiopian Airlines has been named the preferred bidder to take over State- owned Air Malawi.

Malawi Public Private Partnership (PPP) Commission CEO Jimmy Lipunga reports that Ethiopian Airlines scored 67 points, beating Fly Africa of South Africa (61 points) and Global Business Networks of Botswana (59 points).

“The selection has been largely influ- enced by the preferred bidder’s global experience and competitiveness. The viability of the restructured Air Malawi will be greatly enhanced through a strategic partnership with a global player. Air Malawi will gain more traffic through international route linkages,” says Lipunga.

He explains that the Malawi government will start negotiating with Ethiopian Airlines to take over a 49% shareholding in Air Malawi, while the Malawi government will retain 20%, with the balance of 31% going to Malawian citizens or institutions.

Lipunga says: “Ethiopian Airlines will be expected to satisfy the [preference] by Malawians for competitively priced and high-quality air services to multiple destinations originating from Malawi”.

“This is also in keeping with the drive to promote the tourism industry,” he says.

Lipunga says that, depending on the pace and outcome of the negotiations, Air Malawi (2012) Limited, a new com- pany to be formed as a result of the deal, should be able to start operations in the next two months.

He says the roping in of a strategic partner for Air Malawi is part of the drive by the Malawi government to develop the aviation sector, which is of critical importance, especially considering that Malawi is a landlocked country.

Lipunga observes that, during the last three years, travellers to and from Malawi have experienced soaring airfares owing to a lack of competition.

“An efficient aviation sector has the potential to unlock significant foreign- exchange-earning capacity in the tourism sector,” he says.

Air Malawi’s route network includes five regional and three domestic des- tinations from its twin hubs of Chileka Airport, in Blantyre, and Kamuzu International Airport, in the capital Lilongwe.

On the regional front, it serves the cities of Johannesburg, in South Africa, Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania, Nairobi, in Kenya, Lusaka, in Zambia, and Harare, in Zimbabwe.

Lipunga hopes that, with substantial investment in the airline, Air Malawi will be a feeder airline to the two major regional hubs of Johannesburg and Nairobi. He says there is also potential to introduce several new routes in the region and beyond, based on existing bilateral air services agreements.