PLANS are in the pipeline
for Air Mauritius to launch
a regional African airline,
with the intention of reinforcing
connectivity between Africa
and Asia.
This was the news from
Carla da Silva, regional
manager for Southern Africa
and Latin America, who was
speaking at the airline’s
annual Air Mauritius Awards.
“The new regional airline
will be established as a
subsidiary of Air Mauritius and
will increase the Air Mauritius
network, adding additional
eight points in the African
region.” In the meantime
operations to Maputo and
Dar es Salaam have been
scheduled for May this year.
Growth
The plans form part of
Air Mauritius’s ambitious
expansion strategy for
2016/17, which includes an
‘air corridor’ between the hubs
of Mauritius and Singapore,
which will be launched on
March 11 with the aim of
becoming a bridge between
Africa and Asia with more
frequencies into Shanghai,
Hong Kong and Singapore.
Air Mauritius posted a profit
of €6,4m (R107,4m) for April
to December 2015 against a
loss of €9,1m (R152,6m) for
the corresponding financial
exercise. The airline carried
1,1m passengers representing
a growth of 9,8%. “South
Africa is the fourth- and sixthhighest
revenue generator
for Air Mauritius Limited in
terms of passenger numbers
and revenue respectively.
The market has continuously
registered double-digit growth
year-on-year since 2012,
growing 39% from 2012 to
2015,” Carla said.
AIR Mauritius recognised
its top travel partners at a
glamorous function, held
at the beautiful Shepstone
Gardens in Houghton.
Taking the top spot, once
again, was Beachcomber
Tours. In second place,
shaking things up, was Flight
Centre and in third place, The
Holiday Factory.
2015’s Top 10 Performers:
1 Beachcomber
2 Flight Centre
3 The Holiday Factory
4 Cullinan Outbound Tourism
5 Club travel
6 BidTravel
7 Travelstart
8 Club Med
9 World Leisure Holidays
10 Tourvest
