Air Mauritius chairman Dass Thomas and chief executive Andre Viljoen with Air France KLM chairman Alexandre de Juniac

Air France KLM managing director Alexandre de Juniac and Andre Viljoen, chief executive of Air Mauritius have signed an agreement that reinforces and broadens the scope of the existing collaboration between the airlines.

The signing ceremony was chaired by Air Mauritius chairman, Dass Thomas, and provides for the continuity of the joint Air Mauritius-Air France code share operations between Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Airport in Mauritius.

During the northern hemisphere winter in 2013 and early 2014 the two companies will be offering up to 16 flights a week on the route.

Furthermore, Air Mauritius customers have the possibility to connect beyond Charles De Gaulle to European destinations on Air France operated flights.

Similarly, Air France customers are able to connect to Reunion on Air Mauritius operated flights.

The scope of the agreement has been broadened to cover the sharing of knowledge in several areas of the business including commercial operations, revenue management, cost management, procurement, maintenance and fuel conservation.

According to this agreement, Air France will support Air Mauritius should they wish to join the Sky Team global alliance.

“The agreement signed today is in line with the historical presence of Air France in Mauritius which it has been serving without interruption since 1946,” said Juniac.

“We have reinforced our collaboration namely by agreeing sharing knowledge in various key areas for Air Mauritius.

“By joining forces on the Paris to Mauritius route, we are always offering more frequencies and opportunities for connections, namely from our powerful hub in Paris Charles de Gaulle for the benefit of all our customers”

Since the 1st November 2012, customers can benefit from both of the Air Mauritius and Air France loyalty programs Flying Blue and Kestrelflyer.

Members of these programs can thus earn Miles on the loyalty program of Air France or that of Air Mauritius between Paris and Mauritius, Reunion and Mauritius as well as European destinations served by Air France from the Paris Charles De Gaulle hub.

Members of the Kestrel Flyer program may also earn tickets with their Miles earned, on the whole Air France KLM network just as members of the Air France KLM’s Flying Blue program may choose to use their Miles on the whole Air Mauritius network.

Viljoen: added: “This extended agreement confirms the trust and collaboration that exist between Air France and Air Mauritius.

“This marks the 16th year of our collaboration which has been the backbone of our operations on the Paris Charles De Gaulle hub, a linchpin of our network.

“Charles de Gaulle is a crucial gateway to European markets which remains very important for trade and tourism both for our company and our country.”

World Travel Awards founder Graham Cooke presents the trophy to Donald Payen, executive vice president, Air Mauritius

More Information

Air Mauritius is the national airline of Mauritius; it has been created in 1967 and serves 20 destinations on four continents.

Its fleet consists of four Airbus A340-300, two Airbus A340-300E, two Airbus A330-200, two Airbus A319 and two ATR72-500.

During the last financial year, the company carried 1.3 million passengers which represent more than 50 per cent of passengers that have transited through the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam international airport.

Air Mauritius employees, nearly 3,000 people are important catalysts for key sectors of the economy namely tourism.

The carrier has been recognised as the Indian Ocean’s Leading Carrier for the past nine years by the prestigious World Travel Awards.