Due to strike action by flight crews, Air Austral (UU, St. Denis de la Réunion) has wet-leased several aircraft from ACMI/Charter specialists Hi Fly (5K, Beja) and Wamos Air (EB, Madrid Barajas) for flights between St. Denis de la Réunion and Paris CDG.

Other routes to Antananarivo, Dzaoudzi, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi are scheduled to continue operating for the most part albeit with occasional delays and cancellations. Select services between St. Pierre de la Réunion and Mauritius have now been switched to St. Denis de la Réunion instead.

ch-aviation analysis of Flightradar24 ADS-B data indicates that aircraft sourced from Hi Fly thus far includes A330-200 CS-TFZ (msn 1008) with an additional A340 expected on January 5. Insofar as Wamos Air is concerned, the Spanish operator is providing B747-400 EC-KQC (msn 26549) and A330-200 EC-MJS (msn 0265). Local Reunionnaise media reports indicate the cost of wet-leasing the aircraft over this period is around EUR700,000 - 800,000 (USD730,000 – 830,000) per day.

Crew have been on strike since the morning of January 2 after negotiations over working conditions failed at the weekend. Staff are demanding fixed-term contracts and more personnel. Negotiations are ongoing.