The shutdown of the main runway at the Chileka International Airport has caused South African Airways (SAA) to cancel Malawian flights scheduled for Wednesday, 24 April and Saturday, 27 April.

An alternate runway is in use at the airport, but only supports small aircraft, but SAA’s aeroplane to Blantyre is not of that category.

Since the main runway will be under maintenance that is dated to complete on 23 July 2019, SAA will not be facilitating flights to Blantyre until then. However, travelers must remember that Ethiopian Airlines has small aircraft that will be operating on the secondary runway, for local flights and to Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam. Malawi Airlines has also acquired new aircraft to ensure that the airport is fully operational, regardless of the main runway shutdown.