NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 16 – Kenya Airways (KQ)has announced the suspension of ticket sales in Malawi due to the challenge of repatriation of funds from the country.
The suspension will only affect reservations made in Malawi.
Even so, travellers can still book and buy tickets online via www.kenya-airways.com using either a credit or debit card.
In a statement, the national carrier noted that it has throughout the year, actively engaged Malawi authorities to find a solution for the repatriation of significant amount of its blocked funds.
However, it said that it found it challenging to meet its operational costs and maintain the commercial viability of its operations in Malawi.
“For continued smooth operations in Malawi, timely repatriation of these funds and a proper mechanism to ensure that KQ funds do not accumulate must be put in place by the Malawi government,” said the carrier.
KQ noted that under the current difficult circumstances, and to mitigate against further losses moving forward, they were left with no other option but to suspend ticket sales in Malawi adding that failure to collect the funds could lead to KQ suspending its operations in Malawi.
“Kenya Airways has been operating in Malawi since 1977 and remains committed to continuing and growing operations. We hope to find a win-win resolution with the Malawi government on the repatriation of blocked funds to enable us to resume normal ticket sales,” the airline said.
Malawi has been facing acute shortages of foreign exchange currency forcing foreign traders to halt or suspend some of their operations in the country.
