Mauritius will become a gateway to Asia through Singapore for the islands of the Indian Ocean and countries of eastern and southern Africa as a result of the agreement signed on 14 October 2015 between Mauritius and Singapore Changi Airport.
In reply to a Parliamentary Question the Prime Minister, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, said that this ‘Air Corridor’ offers an exceptional opportunity for growth for Air Mauritius as it taps into the tremendous potential of traffic between Asia/South East Asia and Africa. The increase of frequencies into Singapore will dovetail with the Regional Airline project.
Given that Singapore’s Changi Airport is the seventh largest international airport in terms of passenger and air cargo traffic, this agreement will allow the development of both passenger and cargo traffic between Singapore and Mauritius as well as between Africa/Indian Ocean countries and Asia/South East Asia, using Mauritius and Singapore as hubs, he said.
The Prime Minister outlined that on the west side of the corridor, Mauritius has already signed Memoranda of Understanding/Bilateral Air Services Agreements with the following African countries: Botswana, Comoros, republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
On the east side Memoranda of Understanding and Bilateral Air Services Agreements have been signed with China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam. Mauritius is in the process of finalising a Memoranda of Understanding with Japan with a view to allowing its national carrier to extend its network coverage in Asia by code sharing with its partner airlines to market points in Japan.
This forceful move will have an enormous impact on the other sectors of the country and will promote trade, business and economic development, thereby catapulting Mauritius to the next stage of growth. Through promotion on international trade and business in the region Mauritius is poised to become a robust regional hub, he said.