ET21 BLZ-LLW Domestic or Intl?
 

I'll be connecting to ET21 to Lilongwe in Blantyre (coming off ET875 from Addis Ababa via Ndola). Yes, crazy routing but it saved a few $$$. Is the BLZ-LLW leg a domestic leg or an international one? Do I enter Malawi in Blantyre and collect luggage and go through customs, or does that happen in Lilongwe? I notice that ET21 originates in JNB, therefore it is an international flight at least as far as Blantyre.

It is both. :)

There are pax who start in Johannesburg who will remain "international", but those starting in Blantyre will be "domestic" on the same plane (unless traveling BLZ-LLW-NBO in which case you can choose to do immigration in Blantyre and then stay airside in Lilongwe). When you get to Lilongwe, you are then further segregated into domestic passengers, international arriving passengers and international transit passengers. Confused yet? :D

In your case, you will clear immigration and collect bags in Blantyre. Then check-in again for the domestic flight to Lilongwe.

Thanks for that information. Now I know what to expect. At least our layover in Blantyre is 2 hours, so if all goes well and the arriving aircraft is on time there shouldn't be any hassles. And if all doesn't go well, we're only some 150 miles from our final destination anyway.