Qatar Airways is rumoured to be in talks regarding a strategic equity partnership with Air Mauritius.
According to French media house, Defi Media, the Mauritian government is strongly considering a bid by Qatar Airways, despite the national carrier’s historic relationship with Emirates.
“Air Mauritius has consistently been in desperate need of restructuring and recapitalisation. For the last decade or so, every couple of years there's been either a scandal, bankruptcy, a restructuring or something similar. If the government of Mauritius is serious about making real changes there, they need to bring in both new capital as well as professional management,” aviation consultant, Sean Mendis told Travel News.
“Qatar has made it very clear that its Africa strategy is now based upon taking strategic equity investments in different airlines. They have invested in Airlink, Kenya Airways and they have been talking about investment in Rwanda for a long time,” he added.
When asked about the strategic partnership at a press conference last Friday, the Air Mauritius Chairman of the Board, Kremchand Beegoo said the airline was considering all its options. He also suggested that it was considering launching an expression of interest to gauge the interest of potential investors to become shareholders.
