Deputy Minister of Transport Baba Steven Malondera has said that the new Mzuzu Airport runway is ready for operations.
He made the remarks on Thursday when he inspected the runaway.
He further said that following the completion, he will hold a roundtable discussions with stakeholders on Friday for certification, as ordered by President Lazarus Chakwera.
“I am impressed with the job done on the runway, this is the message am taking to the president who directed that as soon as I noticed that everything is in order, I should also pass on the same message to him. So ideally, this marks the beginning of the flights to here in Mzuzu.
“So I would like to also direct the Malawian airlines and civil aviation that we immediately convene a meeting and agree as to when they’re starting to fly to Mzuzu because everything is completely done as per the specification. So we can’t wait any longer, the wait has been far too much. So going forward, in line with the vision of the president, we’re rolling out the commercial flights soon,” he said
Speaking earlier, Airport Development Limited (ADL) spokesperson Wezzie Gondwe said Hara and Civil Aviation Authority officials are expected to inspect the runway today.
She said: “The runway is ready. We have done all the planned maintenance works such as expansion and strengthening the runway surface. Our priority was on the runway and we will now be moving to the terminal.
“What is remaining is certification of the runway. The Minister of Transport and aviation officials will inspect the runway on Wednesday and decide on its certification.”
The K1.4 billion project, undertaken by Nasudu Construction Limited, focused on extending the runway from 1.3 kilometers to 1.5 kilometers, making it safer and more accessible for commercial flights.
