Mauritius will establish a National Aviation Council reporting directly to Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam to review the country's air access policy from a global perspective, marking a shift away from evaluating bilateral air service requests primarily through Air Mauritius (MK, Mauritius).
Announcing the move after a meeting with Air Mauritius executives and government officials on September 3, 2026, Ramgoolam said the council would include representatives from the national carrier and civil aviation authority, as well as independent aviation and air access specialists.
He said the body would assess how to expand connectivity in a way that benefits both Air Mauritius and the wider Mauritian economy.
Ramgoolam also revealed that the government of Abu Dhabi had expressed interest in launching Etihad Airways services to Mauritius. Any decision on the proposal will form part of a broader strategic partnership rather than be considered solely as an aviation matter, he said, adding that the new National Aviation Council will review the request.
Air Mauritius' role
The announcement comes weeks after Air Mauritius CEO André Viljoen publicly underlined the strategic importance of a strong national carrier and managing additional competitor capacity in the Mauritian market.
In an August 17 LinkedIn post, Viljoen said the airline had completed a comprehensive network review and a 10-year growth strategy, warning against increased outsourcing of services to foreign carriers and stressing the importance of shareholder support to preserve the airline's long-term strategic role.
He argued that Air Mauritius plays a broader economic role than foreign competitors by promoting Mauritius as a destination, supporting tourism and exports, generating foreign currency earnings, and maintaining essential connectivity during crises.
"[With] every ticket sold to an in-bound guest into Mauritius on Air Mauritius, the foreign currencies flow into the country (more than 80% of our revenue), whilst with our competitor airlines, the foreign currencies flow to their countries, which makes us a significant contributor to the generation of foreign currencies," he said.
"The above clearly highlights the strategic value of Air Mauritius to the country as its national airline, and why our shareholder support is vital. It also emphasises our unique strategic value compared with our competitor airlines and why control of further outsourcing of flights to competitors is of great importance," he maintained.
According to ch-aviation data, Air Mauritius currently holds a 35% market share at Mauritius in terms of weekly aircraft seat sales, followed by Emirates with close on 19%. The Mauritian carrier also competes with 18 other foreign carriers: Turkish Airlines, Air Austral, Condor, IndiGo Airlines, Air France, Corsair, South African Airways, Air India, British Airways, Saudia, Kenya Airways, FlySafair, Air Seychelles, Edelweiss Air, Discover Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Iberojet (Spain), and World2Fly (Spain).
