Air Mauritius Airlines

  About Air Mauritius

Air Mauritius Limited, the parent company of Air Mauritius, is the national flag carrier of Mauritius. The airline's headquarters is located at the Air Mauritius Centre in Port Louis, Mauritius. Air Mauritius' hub is Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport. The airline came into existence in 1967 and was founded by a joint venture of Air France, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) enterprise and the Government of Mauritius. Each party involved had stakes of 27.5 per cent in the company. The entire operation of Air Mauritius was held by Rogers and Co Ltd., the general sales agent in Mauritius for Air France as well as British Overseas Airways Corporation. Initially, the carrier had a majority of its international operations in association with Air India, Air France and British Airways. At the time, the three airlines had a joint shareholding of 25 per cent each in Air Mauritius. In 1972 though, Air Mauritius announced that they would be restricting its activities strictly to ground services. Flight operations on its own terms commenced in 1972 as the airline chartered a six-seater Piper PA-31 Navajo aircraft that they leased from Air Madagascar. The flight connected Mauritius to the autonomous island of Rodrigues. Keeping the Malagasy registration, the aircraft had a complete Air Mauritius decor.

In 1973, the airline wet-leased a Vickers VC10 from British Airways to enable a ling-haul route launch to London via Nairobi in Kenya. Services to Bombay also commenced and were operated by Air India under Air Mauritius' flag. Eventually, in 1975, the airline replaced its Navajo aircraft with a 16-seater Twin Otter. As the agreement with Air France and British Airways concluded, Air Mauritius wet-leased a Boeing 707-400 from British Airtours. With this, the airline managed to acquire a long-haul service in its own rights. Air Mauritius became the first Mauritian company to have a majority of ownership by the state. The airline even made their shares go public in 1994 with its share trading going up on the Mauritius stock exchange in 1995. As of 2018, 5 per cent of the shareholders came from direct participation while 51 per cent was owned by Air Mauritius Holdings Ltd. and 8.37 per cent by the government of Mauritius. Air Mauritius also introduced a slew of subsidiary airlines such as Airmate Ltd., Air Mauritius Holidays Ltd. Australia, Mauritian Holidays Ltd. (United Kingdom), Air Mauritius Holidays Ltd., Air Mauritius Institute Co. Ltd., and more. Subsidiaries partly owned were Mauritius Estate Development Corporation Ltd., with 93.7 per cent stakes, Mauritius Shopping Paradise Company Ltd with 41.7 per cent shares and Pointe3 Coton Resort Hotel Company Ltd., with 54.2 per cent shareholdings.

Fleet size of Air Mauritius

As of 2019, Air Mauritius' fleet size stands at 13 with a majority of Airbus variant aircraft and three ATR 72-500s. There are two Bell 206 JetRanger choppers also that the airline operates that are mainly used for tour services. In the past, air Mauritius had a plethora of Boeing aircraft such as Boeing 707-320B, Boeing 373-200, Boeing 747SP, Boeing 767-200ER and ATR 42-300, to name a few.

In 2000, the airline had a fleet comprising of five Airbus A340-300s along with one ATR42-300, two ATR42-500s and two Boeing 767-200ERs that served the international route of Brussels, Delhi, Cape Town, Melbourne, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Frankfurt, Milan, Manchester, Singapore, Vienna, Mumbai, Zurich and more. Medium-haul routes to African countries also commenced with domestic routes carried by Airbus A319. In the mid-2005, the airline ordered A340-300 Enhanced version to cater to the international route of London. Following incorporation with Airbus A330-200, Air Mauritius welcomed a second aircraft of the same family, which was delivered in 2009. In 2016, the airline introduced its first-ever international route to Singapore from Mauritius. The direct flights to Singapore aimed to improve the connectivity between the two international destinations and also stimulate the passenger growth between the two hubs.

At the 2014 Farnborough Air Show, the airline announced that they are signing a memorandum of understanding with Airbus to acquire six Airbus A350-900s. Two of the six aircraft would be leased from AerCap Holdings with the buffer option of placing additional orders that could go up to three more aircraft. The initial plan was to lease the aircraft that would be joining the fleet by 2017 while the other four would be added to the fleet in 2019 and 2020. In 2017, the airline further made another announcement that they would be leasing two Airbus A330-900neo from Air Lease Corporation and replace two of their Airbus A340-300E aircraft. However, following some delays, the said aircraft were delivered by Airbus in 2019. Deliveries for two Airbus A350-900 were also pushed from 2020 to 2023, following the delay. Air Mauritius also stated that they would be refurbishing much of their existing aircraft with new seats, in-flight entertainment systems and add better facilities.

Baggage Allowance

The general rule of baggage allowance on Air Mauritius is that the piece of checked luggage should not exceed 32 kg. Meanwhile, the dimension should also stay within 158 cm. A surcharge will be applicable to passengers who exceed the baggage standards. Although a set rule is present for baggage allowance, it varies depending on the destination that you are travelling from or to. The rules might change or tweak slightly with more or less baggage allowance provided by Air Mauritius. The airline is very strict when it comes to following the protocols for baggage allowance. The passenger is requested to ensure that the weight and dimension of the baggage have been checked beforehand. In case there is excess baggage, and the passenger requires to purchase extra baggage weight, they must do it beforehand. Students travelling have additional baggage allowance perks as they can carry a piece of luggage weighing no more than 20 kg. As for seamen, the airline offers the same baggage allowance with one extra piece of luggage that shouldn't weigh more than 20 kg.

In-flight services

Air Mauritius' in-flight services have improved over the years. As the country is known to be a famous tourist destination, the airline also reflects some of the vacation moods with their in-flight services. The seating in Air Mauritius' aircraft is quite comfortable and cosy. The reclining seats have amazing legroom and leg-rest facilities too. Not to mention how the in-flight services also include exquisite meal accommodations, in-flight entertainment content and friendly staff. The airline has worked towards upgrading its in-flight aircraft services as well as changing its décor for better. Passengers can also upgrade their tickets from economy class to business class depending on the plans that the airline has to offer. One of the special perks for honeymooners includes a pre-order on champagne in the economy class.

Popular routes and top cities for Air Mauritius

Air Mauritius currently serves 22 destinations from its hub in Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, as of 2018. The carrier also caters to three domestic routes while the rest are international routes. In 2015, the airline signed a codeshare agreement with Air Seychelles, Air Madagascar, Inter Ile Air, Vanilla Alliance and Air Austral. Along with these, the airline also has agreements with airlines such as Air France, Air India, Emirates, Hong Kong Airlines, Kenya Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways and Virgin Australia. Some of the top cities that Air Mauritius caters to include Perth, Shanghai, Delhi, Mumbai, Paris, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Cape Town, London and Johannesburg.

The airline commenced with no aircraft but eventually acquired many operations as in 1972, Air India chartered a flight to Port Louis from Bombay. It was run on behalf of Air Mauritius, and Boeing 707 was used for this transit. It became Air Mauritius' first-ever international route. The carrier's network also added other major cities such as London, Rome, Nairobi, Rodrigues and Tananarive. In 2012, Air Mauritius announced that they are suspending all services to Frankfurt, Melbourne, Sydney, Geneva and Milan. The top five routes for Air Mauritius include Mauritius - Paris, Mauritius London, Mauritius–Reunion, Mauritius–Johannesburg and Mauritius–Antananarivo.

Why travel by Air Mauritius?

Air Mauritius caters to business class and economy class cabins with exquisite in-flight services and hospitality. Over the years, the airline has managed to become one of the best in the Indian Ocean with a series of comfortable facilities. These range from flexible baggage allowance to the slew of domestic routes and international routes that predominantly favour European and Southeast Asian destinations. The airline has also enabled web check-in services to help the passenger. The traveller can book an Air Mauritius flight online as it has a great presence on various travel portals.

Along with this, the Air Mauritius' flight schedule and flight status can also be accessed to help decide on which schedule and flight would be ideal for the passenger. Air Mauritius's consistent growth and active tourism have enabled many travellers to opt for the airline. Perusing through the airline's website can help gain a better understanding of why they make the best choice for travelling to the island country of Mauritius.