Well it is true – old rivals Air Mauritius and Air Austral will be code sharing on the Australian market. We initially thought this was a short term agreement to assist in the long term bookings that Air Austral had in place but it appears this is how it is working moving forward.
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For flights to Mauritius now – how do you get there ? You will be flying on Air Mauritius planes from Perth – and partner airlines Virgin Blue and Qantas from capital cities in Australia.
Neither airline is flying to the east coast cities of Sydney or Melbourne.
Air Mauritius’ old 4 engine A340 is too inefficient even at 100% capacity – and Air Austral has too much debt to continue the fight with Air Mauritius for the east coast – even though they have nice new 777′s. Air Austral need to sell a plane to get out of debt – and Air Mauritius are praying for a buyer for an old dinosaur that nobody wants.
Gone are the days of loads of cheap bargain deals to Mauritius. Seat capacity has been cut to all most 30% of that of a year ago – and now relies on buying partner airlines seats to get you to Mauritius from the east coast. You can imagine how willing Virgin Blue is too sell heaps of cheap seats on their networks can’t you ??
So, how do you get the best deals to Mauritius ?
To now get the best deal to Mauritius you will need to book well in advance. Unless you’re from Perth, you will need to rely on getting the cheapest class of seat on Virgin Blue ( and they are few and far between ) and Air Mauritius ( or Air Austral ? ) for all your flights. If you’re from Melbourne – that is 4 flights – Virgin are not inclined to give lots of these cheap seats – and why would Air Mauritius either ?
PLEASE NOTE : AIR MAURITIUS FARES ARE INCREASING ON THE 14TH OF JULY – IF YOU HAVE A BOOKING WITH A TRAVEL AGENT OR THE AIRLINE AND WISH TO AVOID THIS YOU NEED TO PAY AND TICKET YOUR AIRFARES BEFORE THE 14TH OF JULY
And that is just Mauritius ! Try and add South Africa to your trip and you need to get the cheapest seats on 6 flights to get even close to some of the deals we were seeing a year ago.
So – who will you book on ? Air Mauritius or Air Austral ? Is this actually competition ? How will they work together to promote Mauritius ? Will they work together to promote Mauritius ? Why would they even want to ?
This reporter is at a loss – and is seeking your thoughts, comments and questions. Who is winning here ? It is not Australian’s or Mauritian Australians wanting to travel back to Mauritius as costs are sky rocketing.
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NOTE : Some speculation has revolved around the idea that Air Austral is keeping its ” toes in the water ” to keep its traffic rights and some airport slots but could Australia really handle another backflip by this on again off again airline ?
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Thoughts please – We love your feedback and want to hear your thoughts – have you tried to book flights to Mauritius to find they are expensive again ? Thanks in advance !
