Minister of Transport and Public Works, Jacob Hara, says government has already started mobilizing resources from developmental partners and Japanese technicians are designing the masterplan.

Hara says the rehabilitation works to revamp the airport, have not been successful; hence the decision to construct a new structure.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government, which has been providing assistance in the aviation industry, has backed the idea.

Minister Hara said the decision to demolish the current structure to pave way for a new state-of-the-art facility is viable rather than having the airport undergo rehabilitation works that will heavily cost the taxpayer.

Hara, who was speaking at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe on Thursday, on the sidelines of receiving airport ground support equipment from the Japanese government, said "the new Chileka Airport project could be ready by 2025."

Japanese ambassador to Malawi, Satoshi Iwakiri, says his administration will continue supporting Malawi’s aviation sector and the idea of constructing a new airport at Chileka, will be considered.

Meanwhile, some of the airport ground support equipment, which the Japanese government has donated to Malawi worth 2.5 billion kwacha, include a boom lift, an Ambulift, which is a vehicle used for easy planing and deplaning of passengers with mobility challenges or on a wheel chair, a cargo high loader, air start unit, used for starting airplane engines and towing tractor.