Air Mauritius adds frequencies to Mumbai and expands codeshare with Air France

It was learned late yesterday that Air Mauritius will offer additional flights between the island of Mauritius and Mumbai, India, from April this year, bringing the total number of flights to four per week. Increased investment and trade between India and Mauritius, along with the appeal of the island as a holiday destination, are the main factors seen in taking this decision.
Aviation analysts also point to the fact of increased frequencies by Emirates to Mauritius, offering daily convenient flights from all their Indian gateways via Dubai, and the fact that Air Mauritius really had no choice but to either increase their presence with nonstop flights between Mumbai and the island or else leave the market altogether.
A source from Port Louis said the four flights were “a step in the right direction but ultimately our airline has to fly daily nonstop or Emirates, with 12 flights a week from Dubai and multiple destinations in India, will simply sweep our national carrier aside.”
Lessons learned from neighboring Vanilla Island Seychelles perhaps where that flights from Frankfurt had to be dropped when Emirates started to increase frequencies in earnest, eventually followed by all the airline’s mainstream European ports of call like London, Paris, Milan, and Rome, unable to compete with the frequencies, the extensive network from other airports in these countries, and ultimately on fares.
25/01/12 Wolfgang H Thome/eTN

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Categories: airports Jan 2012, Foreign Jan 2012