Airports shunned over non-certification

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has said Malawi does not have a certified airport due to lack of systems and infrastructure, human resource, safety and security, among others. The CAA said this was one of the reasons international airline operators have been shunning Malawi. But both CAA and Airport Development Limited (ADL) confirmed that they are working towards certifying Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) in Lilongwe within the next two years, according to Malawi Nation Online. CAA Acting DG Samuel Kalua said airports such as KIA and Chileka in Blantyre, which handle scheduled and non-scheduled flights, must meet requirements under International Civil Aviation Organisation and Civil Aviation (Aerodromes) Regulations. He said these airport systems, lacking at both KIA and Chileka, need to have detailed procedures for recruitment, licensing, recurrent training and air site access authorisation. Kalua added that the authority, as a regulator responsible for certification, was new and does not have the capacity, including qualified personnel, to conduct certification. He said: 'Now that the authority has been created, we are building an inspectorate responsible for certification. A number of inspectors are going through different trainings. Kalua added that the aviation authority and ADL are moving away from dependence on government funding by accessing revenue generated at airports for staff recruitment, training and airport rehabilitation.

Full Malawi Nation Online report