Interlink Airlines 737-200 lands in Lilongwe?

[VarigMD11]

Hi guys
I was at LLW yesterday just having a look around and was witness to a white 737-200 landing around 12.00 and parking at the far end of the apron. I am quite sure it was Interlink Airlines.
It deployed its own airstairs and a full load of what I am assuming were Malawian nationals disembarked and waited by the a/c. The pilots came out and opened up the cargo hold and distributed the baggage to all waiting passengers. The passengers then proceeded to walk to the terminal building which is quite some way off (normally passengers are bussed).
The a/c was then re-fuelled and left empty at around 12.45. Upon driving home I noticed that all the passengers who were on the plane were walking on the side of the road towards Lilongwe. This leads me to believe that the Interlink flight was a charter by the SA govt to send home illegal Malawian immigrants? Does anyone have more info or am I totally wrong on this one?
Regards

[Romeo E.T.]

Thats correct, Interlink and Mr Murad Ismail have made a fortune with Govt contracts this way, from reading the other threads here on PPrune he seems well connected at Govt level, I even believe that the fraud case was dropped as well.

[Shrike200]

Upon driving home I noticed that all the passengers who were on the plane were walking on the side of the road towards Lilongwe........

.......to begin the long journey back to South Africa. :hmm:

[JetPark]

oooh, it's a wonderful contract to have, they keep coming in and Govt. keeps sending them out - taxpayer is keeping that little operation alive and well:ugh:

[Solid Rust Twotter]

Did a couple of those flights on DC3s and 748s a few years back. While speaking to one of the deportees he told me they spend a few days at home and set off back to SA in due course, usually arriving back within a couple of weeks of their deportation. Some of them make a good living out of it as the baggage offloaded is what they've acquired in SA, often by nefarious means and gets sold in the market back in Malawi.

Now, we know it's a poor country but the general view seems to be everything is for the taking in SA...:ooh: Neighbouring countries' economies need to be sorted out first if we're to have any hope of stopping this drain on our own economy.

[Woof etc]

Similar problem in the states with Mexican illegal immigrants.

Come holiday time illegal immigrant goes 'hey you got me!'

One time free flight back to Mexico to visit family and friends and take cash home.

One month later, back on the job in the US. Until next time....

[GULF69]

I was told he's getting 2 more 737's and a 747 in the near future... interesting

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