Asia-Africa air corridor: A game-changing move

The country might be living a defining moment in the history of its economic development. Mauritius is celebrated in our part of the world as a successful model in developmental terms and described as an “economic miracle” by international organisations. The air corridor between Mauritius and Changi Airport in Singapore promises to be a game-changing move by the government and offers high prospects for the economy. Since his win at the December 2014 general elections, the Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth has vowed to take the country through a second economic miracle following years of sluggish growth and economic gloom. To achieve this objective he once more called upon increased public-private concerted actions and economic diversification through the emergence of new sectors, which with time will become new pillars of the economy. One such policy was announced in June last year by the Prime Minister in his Economic Policy Statement – Vision 2030. The air corridor between Mauritius and Singapore’s Changi Airport is now a reality. As its name suggests, this policy aims at creating an air corridor between the countries thereby leveraging on their air connections to increase the number of routes available. The air corridor will link Asia to Africa through Mauritius. In so doing, the island will become an airline hub for flights between the two continents. To this effect, an agreement was signed in October 2015 between Air Mauritius and Singapore’s Changi Airport and Singapore Airlines. This agreement, which dawns a new age in the economic development of Mauritius, also concerns Singapore Airlines’ two subsidiaries Jetstar Asia and Tiger Airways. The air corridor was officially launched this week by the Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Luc Duval at the Hilton Hotel in Singapore. He headed a delegation comprising of business persons, high raking government officers, tour operators and travel agents, the press and representatives of Air Mauritius. “Through a connecting flight in Mauritius, travellers from Singapore will be able to reach a number of destinations in Africa such as the Mozambique, Kenya or Tanzania among others,” said Xavier Duval during the official launch ceremony. He added that other countries of the region, Swaziland and Madagascar, have shown an interest to be part of the project. The DPM, who is also Tourism Minister, seized the opportunity to sell the Mauritian destination to the Singapore operators during the event. Speaking on the sidelines of the launching ceremony, the Chairman of Air Mauritius, Arjoon Suddhoo, highlighted that the Mauritian delegation made presentations on the assets of Mauritius as a tourism destination. “Air Mauritius plays a vital role in the country’s economic development strategy. We have high hopes that this air corridor will augur well for the airline. Not only in terms of passengers, but also tourists and cargo. In fact, we expect high growth in the cargo business. In my opinion, it is a success,” he said. This project offers Air Mauritius significant growth prospects given the enormous potential of air traffic between Africa and Asia. This air corridor is complementary to the regional airline project on which Air Mauritius is currently working and will present new opportunities for economic sectors of Mauritius. It will also benefit the development of air traffic to the Vanilla Islands. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"13304","attributes":{"class":"media-image aligncenter size-full wp-image-21926","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"600","height":"314","alt":"Singapore-Asia"}}]] [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"13303","attributes":{"class":"media-image aligncenter size-full wp-image-21925","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"600","height":"398","alt":"air-mauritius-route-map"}}]]

What is it?

This air corridor will connect Asia, through the Changi hub, to eastern and southern Africa and south-western islands of the Indian Ocean, through the Mauritian airport. This agreement opens new perspectives for the island and Air Mauritius. In fact, it includes the provision of financial support of 2 million Singapore dollars, a substantial discount on airport fees as well as incentives and active participation in the promotional campaigns of the national airline and the Mauritian destination including fairs, road shows, publications and social networks in order to develop the air corridor. The correspondences in Asia will be provided by Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary partners namely Silk Air and Tiger Airways, serving 90 destinations in Africa. Air Mauritius will provide flights between Singapore and Mauritius as well as regional flights between Mauritius and African destinations and those of the southwest Indian Ocean. Changi Airport is a major aviation hub for Asia. It hosts 120 airlines and is connected to 317 destinations worldwide. Singapore Airlines is one of the best airlines in the world and operates a network of 64 destinations. The airport has three terminals and welcomes 55 million passengers each year. A fourth terminal will be launched in 2017 and fifth thereafter to reach a capacity of 135 million passengers. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"13306","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-21928 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"174","height":"215","alt":"Tan-Lye-Teck"}}]]Tan Lye Teck, from Changi International Airport: “It is a very good start” Speaking to the press during the launch ceremony, Tan Lye Teck, from Changi International Airport, said that he is convinced of the merits of the air corridor and excited by the launch of non-stop flights between Mauritius and Singapore. It augurs well for bilateral relations between both countries, and by extension between Asia and Africa, he added. According to Tan Lye Teck, the next step would be to launch joint promotional campaigns with Air Mauritius to sell the country’s assets as a tourism destination in Singapore and Asian countries. Given that the Changi aviation hub offers extensive connectivity to the Asian continent, Mauritius could prospect countries such as China, Japan and Australia in its tourism strategy, claims the latter. During the initial launching stage of the new air corridor, three non-stop flights are scheduled per week between Mauritius and Singapore. This frequency could be increased to five flights per week depending on the success of the air corridor. “Why not even a daily flight,” says the Changi airport representative. For the time being, the Singapore side is focusing on increasing its airport capacity with the fourth terminal in the short term and the fifth one in the long term.