Aviation

Air Mauritius to market South Africa sector

To introduce A340 on all Indian routes by end of 2006

Bhisham Mansukhani - Mumbai

Air Mauritius plans to promote the South African sector to Indian tourists, with a view to both increase tourism to Mauritius as well as tap the increasing number of Indian traffic to South Africa. In addition, the airline will introduce Airbus A340 aircraft on all Indian routes which will catapult seat capacity per flight from the current 175 on the B767 to 309. The airline is also considering a Bangalore frequency - an option the Indian government awarded it late last year. The announcements come on the back of a major delegation visit by the deputy prime minister of Mauritius who is also the minister for tourism, C G Xavier Luc Duval, Mauritius Tourism Chairman Robert Desvaux and the MD of Air Mauritius, Nirvan Veeraswamy.

Currently, Air Mauritius operates nine weekly flights to India: Mumbai -6, Delhi-2 and Chennai- 1. The number of flights is also set to increase to potentially 14 with daily flights to Mumbai following the increase in number of bilateral rights late last year which included the option to fly to Bangalore. "India is our key market this year. We will increase the number of frequencies and the size of the aircraft. Additionally we need to understand the needs of the Indian travellers extensively. It is part of a comprehensive drive and the introduction of Jain food will be a direct result of this," Veeraswamy said.

“More than 30,000 Indians visited Mauritius during the year ended December 2005. Yearly the number is growing at a rate of 30-35 per cent,” said CG Xavier Luc Duval. The company is also in talks with airlines such as Air-India and Indian Airlines to fill in the gap for more number of airlines. Air-India is expected to add about four weekly flights to Mauritius. Air-India has a minority stake of 2.5 per cent in Air Mauritius.

"Until recently, we were focussing mostly on Europe. Now, with additional bilateral rights, our stake in this market will significantly increase. Bangalore could be an interesting addition to our network with a view of developing an IT hub in Mauritius. The target, however is to have daily flights to Mumbai and Delhi," Veeraswamy said. The strategy to promote its South African service onward from Mauritius, he said, would add value to the Indian travellers' experience, give them more options and make them likely repeaters.