Air Mauritius creates a second hub

Air Mauritius, created in 1967, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Twenty years ago, the airline signed a collaboration agreement with Air France for the creation of a first hub with Charles de Gaulle airport as the main platform.

In 2008, this hub became a joint venture with the servicing of sixteen flights per week, carrying more than 105,000 passengers for financial year 2016/2017 including 85,000 tourists. With such figures, the national aviation company has brought forward a new development strategy with the creation of a second hub in collaboration with KLM with Schipol airport as its main platform.

This new hub will better serve Scandinavian countries, a code-sharing with KLM that will service 48 points in Europe. The first KLM operated, KLM/Air Mauritius joint flight, landed in Mauritius on Monday 30th October 2017. The joint flight was operated by a KLM aircraft. This marks the start of an all-year round direct flights between Mauritius and Amsterdam.

The flights to Mauritius are initially operated by KLM’s newest aircraft, a Boeing 787-9 with 30 Business Class, 45 Economy Comfort and 219 Economy Class seat arrangements. Flight KL 501 (also MK 931) departs from Amsterdam on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 17:20 (local time) and arrives in Mauritius at 07:35 (local time). The return flight, KL 702 (also MK 930) leaves Mauritius at 9:45 to arrive at Schipol airport, Amsterdam, at 18:35.

As from 26th March 2018, the flights will be operated twice a week by Air Mauritius, on Mondays and Fridays. A third weekly flight will be added to the schedule in July and August next year. Air Mauritius will operate the Amsterdam/Mauritius route with its Airbus A340 in a 28 Business Class and 264 Economy Class configuration.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is part of the Air France/KLM Group. Air Mauritius has a 20-year old commercial partnership with Air France on the Mauritius /Paris route. Through this partnership, it offers its customers travel options to European destinations via the hub in Charles de Gaulle airport. The collaboration with KLM will enable Air Mauritius develop Schipol airport as its second hub in Europe, and from there, it will offer connections to around 50 destinations in Europe, including Scandinavian countries.

New Development Strategy

In a recent communication exercise with stakeholders of the national aviation company, the CEO Somas Appavou stressed that “there is need to push connectivity with Africa and we want Air Mauritius to be the preferred airline in Africa.”

“We already have daily flights to Johannesburg, we need to extend the same to Nairobi and look out for opportunities for growth through our own operations with other airlines. We see a lot of potential but we must structure the right model to better serve Africa.’

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed earlier last month with Ghana with the objective of assisting the country in setting up a home base carrier. Such initiatives could potentially give Air Mauritius opportunities for the highly experienced personnel of Air Mauritius to share their expertise with other airlines, for example in training and development. “An Air Mauritius Institute is being planned to support the airline’s initiatives in this area while also continually uplifting the skills set of all the employees,” the CEO added.

He further explained: “Critically, these African deepening initiatives are being complemented and synergized by Air Mauritius’ other focus areas which are the opening up of new destinations in Europe and to tap on the growing potential and planning for daily flights to China and India.

In fact the airline is resuming seasonal operations to Geneva and launching Amsterdam partnership with the Air France/KLM group. More destinations and more frequencies also mean more opportunities for tourists to visit Mauritius, especially those who desire to experience various cultures and religions of the world in a short span of time.

This island indeed is a vibrant melting pot where people belonging to different origins live in peace and harmony.’

Fleet Renewal

To support this strategic and next generational growth in frequencies and destinations, the fleet renewal program, which starts from October with the arrival of the first Airbus A350 aircraft, will take the airline product to the premier global league with carbo - fibre reinforced plastic based fuselage equipped with the latest Rolls Royce engines delivering world class sustainable low fuel consumption and lowest emissions and incomparable flight experience: 20% humidity and cabin altitude at 6,000 ft, full flat seats in business class, new generation seats in economy, a new flight entertainment system with audio video on demand and on-board WIFI. Somas Appavou recalls that Air Mauritius has a total of eight aircraft on order - six A350 and two Airbus A330.

Massive Investment Plan

The MK CEO finally says that “this massive investment plan will also include the upgrade of our in-flight product and services so that the true spirit of Mauritius is reflected the moment passengers step on board our flights. To survive in this cut-throat competitive environment, we need to be smart, in fact smarter than others and leverage on our strengths. We have to go digital and do it smartly while reviewing our process with the objective to do more with less.

Our Priority: A Safe and Sustainable and profitable operations along with the well-being of our customers and our people. For an island state far away from most of its markets, reliance on a strong national airline is not a luxury. It is even an essential part of the country’s future.”