Africa-Press – Mauritius. This year saw Air Mauritius reach 50 years since commencing operations in August 1972. The last few years have been a challenge for the airline, which has undergone extensive restructuring amid the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.
Having emerged from administration, it now has a small (but growing) fleet at its disposal. The Airbus A350-900 According to ch-aviation. com, Air Mauritius, which currently serves as the flag carrier of the island nation, presently has nine aircraft in its fleet.
The most numerous design is the Airbus A350-900, which accounts for just under half of the airline’s planes, with four examples present. Another two are also on order.
As it stands, these aircraft are Air Mauritius’ oldest widebody aircraft, and they clock in at a still relatively young average age of 4.2 years old. Two examples arrived at the carrier towards the end of 2017, with the other pair being ex-South African Airways jets that came to Air Mauritius in 2020.
All four have the same seat layout. This consists of 298 economy seats, and 28 business class flatbeds, giving a total capacity of 326 passengers. The former of these cabins accommodates nine passengers per row in a 3-3-3 configuration, with seat pitch ranging from 31 to 33 inches.
Meanwhile, the 28 business class flatbeds are laid out four-abreast (1-2-1). The Airbus A330-900 The carrier’s newest widebodies, and indeed the newest aircraft of any kind at Air Mauritius, are its two Airbus A330-900s.
The A330-900 is the larger of the two variants in Airbus’ new A330neo series, and those flown by Air Mauritius are just 3.7 years old on average. They arrived at the airline in April and June of 2019.
These aircraft represent a step down in terms of capacity for Air Mauritius compared to the larger A350s, accommodating a total of 288 passengers each.
This difference comes about due to the fact that Air Mauritius’ A330-900s have 260 economy class seats (eight abreast), in front of which is a similar 28-seat business class cabin to what is found onboard the carrier’s larger Airbus A350-900s.
Going forward, ch-aviation’s data shows that Air Mauritius also has plans to receive two second-hand A330-200s. These will take over from the A350-900 as the carrier’s largest widebodies upon arrival, as their present average age is already some 16.4 years old.
These 254-seaters most recently flew for Fiji Airways. In stark contrast to the carrier’s Airbus widebodies, the remaining three aircraft in Air Mauritius’ present fleet are examples of the ATR 72-500 turboprop.
These 72-seat regional airliners are 15 years old on average, and, historically, the Port Louis-headquartered Vanilla Alliance member has also operated a fourth example.
Air Mauritius’ three current ATR 72-500s arrived at the carrier over a 14-year spell. 3B-NBG was the first to come onboard, in June 2002, followed by 3B-NBN (December 2010) and 3B-NBO (June 2016). Each offers 29-30 inches of pitch.
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