Air Mauritius hopes to boost Heathrow flights

By Louise Longman

AIR Mauritius is looking to add an extra weekly flight to its Heathrow-Mauritius service to meet growing demand for the destination.

The additional flight is likely to be operational by winter 2001, and will bring the total number of ex-UK services to five, with four from Heathrow and one from Manchester.

The flight will be operated by an A340 aircraft and will increase capacity by 25%, from 1200 to 1500 seats.

Air Mauritius regional manager UK and Ireland Chris Gilbert said: “The scheduled long-haul market has experienced the Caribbean and the Far East, and it is now looking at the Indian Ocean as an alternative destination. Those that have travelled to Mauritius have been very surprised with the quality of the product. It’s not cheap, but it represents good value for money.”

Load factors for the airline in 1999 were 75%. These have climbed to 80% throughout 2000. Gilbert said he was confident these load factors could be maintained in 2001.