Transport in Malawi

Transportation in Malawi is poorly developed. The country of almost 14 million has 39 airports, 6 with paved runways and 33 with unpaved runways. It has 495 miles (797 km) of railways, all narrow-gauge and about 45 percent of its roads are paved. Though it is landlocked, Malawi also has 435 miles (700 km) of waterways on Lake Malawi and along the Shire River.

Recent assessments indicate that there were 9,601 miles (15,451 km) of roads in the country; of these, 4,322 miles (6,956 km) (45 percent) were paved. The remaining 5,279 miles (8,496 km) were not paved.

Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) and Shire River (144 kilometres) provide the major waterways. There is a railhead at the port of Chipoka, Salima district in central Malawi. Smaller ports exist at Monkey Bay, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota and Chilumba.

The MV Ilala connects Likoma Island with the mainland, as well as the Malawian and Mozambican sides of the lake. In 2010, a port in Nsanje was opened to connect the country through the Shire and Zambezi rivers with the Indian Ocean. As of 2015, the port is not operational due to unresolved contracts with Mozambique.

Malawian Airlines Limited is the national airline of Malawi which operates regional passenger service. Based in Lilongwe, it is 51% owned by the Malawi government. 49% are controlled by Ethiopian Airlines The airline's main base of operations is Lilongwe International Airport, with a secondary hub at Chileka International Airport.

In 2001 there was a total of 44 airports in the country. AS of 2015, two airports have scheduled passenger services.

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