Air Mauritius has announced that it will resume its direct flight operations to and from New Delhi from May 3, 2023. The move is expected to provide a significant boost to outbound tourism from India to Mauritius.
The direct flight to New Delhi comes after a gap of three years, with the only direct service from India to the Indian Ocean island being from Mumbai. Air Mauritius will operate two weekly flights from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi using the Airbus A330 aircraft with a capacity of 254 seats in a Business and Economy class configuration. The flight will take approximately 7.5 hours to reach Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius.
According to Air Mauritius, the lack of flights from other cities in India, particularly New Delhi, has been one of the biggest challenges in restoring tourist traffic from India to Mauritius. The airline’s resumption of direct operations to New Delhi is expected to change that. Currently, Air Mauritius operates six weekly flights from Port Louis to Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
Air Mauritius CEO Krešimir Kučko said in a statement that the airline is excited to resume its operations to New Delhi after three years of absence. He added that India and Mauritius share a special relationship that is built on the foundation of people-to-people ties, culture, ancestry, language, and geography. He also said that new avenues are being explored with Air India to offer seamless connectivity via both Mumbai and New Delhi to/from a number of destinations in India.
Air Mauritius boasts one of the youngest and most modern fleets in the world, with the latest generation aircraft such as the Airbus A350-900 XWB and the A330-900neo. The airline’s resumption of direct flights to New Delhi is expected to facilitate better connectivity for tourists from India to Mauritius and increase the number of visitors to the island nation.
Featured image: @indian_spotter
