The Air Navigation Standards in Malawi are tasked with implementing and maintaining the ICAO Annexes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 15, and 19 Standards and Recommended Practices through activities such as Licensing, Approvals, Certification, Inspections, and other surveillance operations. These responsibilities ensure the safety and efficiency of air navigation within the country’s airspace.

The key responsibilities of the Air Navigation Standards in Malawi include:

1. Licensing and Approvals: Overseeing the licensing of aviation personnel, such as air traffic controllers, pilots, and maintenance engineers, as well as granting approvals for various aviation operations.
2. Certification: Ensuring that aviation operators, facilities, and equipment meet ICAO standards through a certification process that guarantees compliance and safety.
3. Inspections and Surveillance: Carrying out regular inspections and surveillance activities to ensure continued compliance with international standards and to identify any potential safety risks.
4. Air Traffic Management: Managing air traffic flow within Malawi's airspace, coordinating aircraft movements, and providing air traffic control services to ensure safety and efficiency.
5. Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS): Overseeing communication systems between aircraft and air traffic control, ensuring proper navigation aids, and maintaining surveillance systems such as radar and satellite technology to track aircraft.
6. Aeronautical Information Standards: Ensuring the availability and accuracy of essential aeronautical information, including charts, notices, and operational data for safe flight operations.
7. Aeronautical Chart Standards: Ensuring that aeronautical charts used by pilots and air traffic controllers adhere to international standards for precision and usability.
8. Airspace Management: Regulating Malawi’s airspace by managing its structure, including controlled and uncontrolled airspace, and optimizing airspace use to prevent congestion while ensuring safety.
9. Meteorological Standards: Providing accurate and timely meteorological data to support safe and efficient aviation operations in line with international standards.
10. Search and Rescue (SAR): Establishing and maintaining search and rescue capabilities to respond to aviation emergencies within Malawi’s airspace.
11. Instrument Approach Procedures Design Standards (PANS-OPS): Designing and maintaining instrument approach procedures to ensure that aircraft can safely land at airports, even in adverse weather conditions.
12. Safety Management System (SMS): Implementing and monitoring a Safety Management System (SMS) to identify, assess, and mitigate aviation safety risks in Malawi.