Air Mauritius (MK, Mauritius) says it is in talks with several African carriers over the formation of a new regional alliance.
The Indian Ocean-based airline said in a statement marking its AGM that it was currently in consultations with South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo), Kenya Airways (KQ, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta), and RwandAir (WB, Kigali) over the alliance which, if instated, would allow all parties involved to access "much needed economies of scale". It would also allow for improved efficiencies and collaborations including shared services and knowledge transfer.
As part of the process, Air Mauritius last month expanded an existing codeshare with Kenya Airways into a reciprocal agreement. As such, Air Mauritius will now codeshare, as marketing carrier, on all Kenya Airways-operated flights between Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta and Mauritius. Kenya Airways already places its code on Air Mauritius's 3x weekly Mauritius-Nairobi flights.
For its part, Air Mauritius is already a member of the Vanilla Alliance, an association of Indian Ocean-based carriers whose other members include Air Austral, Air Madagascar, Air Seychelles, and Comoros-based Int'Air Îles. The added connectivity to the African mainland would also allow it to further its overall goal of developing Mauritius Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport into a key conduit for Africa-Asia and Africa-Oceania traffic.
