Construction

The first buildings constructed at the site of Chileka airport were a small number of tin huts erected around 1934. Together with the small dirt landing strip, this infrastructure supported the Wenela service that transported Malawian men to work in mines in South Africa. Up until this time, other flights into Malawi were also conducted by flying boats, arriving on Lake Malawi, at Cape Maclear.

Around 1950 the British Colonial Service was commissioned by the British government to construct Chileka airport. Together with a Salisbury based construction firm, the development of the new airport began. The construction involved building a full-service facility that included a main terminal building with a lounge, restaurant, viewing balcony, and air traffic control tower. Supporting infrastructure was also built, including a fire station, hangars, staff housing, water towers, and electricity. Staff were also trained to take up the roles of air traffic controllers, ground stewards and other functions at the new airport. Central African Airways was the first company to operate flights out of the airport, running flights throughout the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

The airport accommodated many different types of aircraft including Douglas C-47 Dakota, Vickers VC.1 Viking, de Havilland Dove, and de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver. After some lengthening and reinforcement work was later carried out on the runway, the airport was then able to accommodate the first jet, the De Havilland Comet, and later the Vickers VC10.

Later on, the Mandala Building & Construction Co. built the VVIP lounge for the 1999 SADC conference that was held in Blantyre.

In August 2025 the President Lazarus Chakwera changed the name of the airport to Bakili Muluzi International Airport.