AirAsia X (D7, Kuala Lumpur International) will likely make its African debut in October the Mauritian Minister of Tourism, Xavier-Luc Duval, has revealed.

"AirAsia [X] will connect Mauritius to Asia, probably in October," he told L'Express newspaper. "The airline will operate four flights per week to Kuala Lumpur International, and anticipates bringing in at least 50,000 additional tourists to our island per annum."

Air Mauritius (MK, Mauritius) is currently the only carrier to ply the Mauritius-Kuala Lumpur market offering three weekly A330-200-operated flights as an added sector to its direct Singapore Changi service.

Currently, the AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur International) longhaul unit limits its operations to Australia, China, India, Japan, Nepal, New Zealand, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Taiwan. It also has US regulatory authority to operate flights to the United States which, despite announcing it would start Honolulu via Osaka Kansai flights in November, it has yet to carry out.