Malawian Airlines, Launches its First International flight to Johannesburg.

Ethiopian Airlines' strategic partner for the southern Africa region, Malawian Airlines, has launched its first international flight to Johannesburg on 17 February 2014.

Malawian will operate daily from Lilongwe to Johannesburg, with a stopover in Blantyre, with a brand new B737-800 with Sky Interior and a 154 seat capacity configured in two classes, Business and Economy.

As part of its strategy to set up multiple hubs in Africa in line with its 15 year strategic roadmap, Vision 2025, Ethiopian has partnered with the Malawian Government and private interests in the country to establish Malawian Airlines in Lilongwe. Ethiopian has 49% equity stake as well as the technical and management contract for the new airline. 

Lilongwe is now the 3^rd hub of Ethiopian for Southern Africa region, after Lomé, which has been serving for the last 4 years as a hub for the West African region through a partnership with ASKY Airlines.

"Ethiopian is first and foremost a Pan-African carrier that strongly believes that intra-African partnership is critical for the emergence of a globally competitive indigenous African airline industry. It is with this spirit that we have entered into a long term partnership in Malawi. Together, we aim to serve the public and the air travel needs in the Southern Africa region, both for regional and inter-continental travel, thru an integrated network that offers seamless and convenient connectivity options to our 79 global destinations." said CEO Tewolde Gebremariam.

Ethiopian is a global Pan-African carrier serving 79 international destinations across 5 continents with over 200 daily flights and using the latest technology aircraft such as the B777s and B787s.