As of the 26^th August 2019, there were was a low/no number of passengers at all airliners operating in Malawi.

On the day, a Malawian Airlines flight coming from Tanzanian via Lilongwe to Chileka Blantyre landed only with two passengers. Few hours later, it left for Lusaka Zambia via harare with no passengers on board. On the other hand, another plane took off from Chileka for Johannesburg, South African in morning with no passengers on board.

The low numbers follow fears of demonstrations that were planned to start on the 26^th, but have been postponed to the 28^th of August. However, a press release date 26th August 2019, by the minister of Information, Civic Education and Communications Technology, has emphasized that Government decided not to grant permission for demonstrations planned by the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) which were aimed to take place from Wednesday, 28th August 2019.

“Government is convinced that conveners of these demonstrations deliberately abuse the right to demonstrate to achieve other ulterior agendas.” reads part of the statement, as it stresses that no permission will be granted for further demonstrations, until such a time when it is possible for the conveners to organize peaceful demonstrations.