South Africa's FlySafair (finally) opens its first international route to Mauritius
It's a successful landing for FlySafair at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, Mauritius' main air gateway. The South African company inaugurated its first international flight on Tuesday 8 March 2022. Leaving Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport at 9am (local time), FlySafair's Boeing 737-800 landed in Mauritius at 3.05pm (local time), greeted by water cannon jets. "This is an important moment for us as an airline, as we have been waiting patiently for the launch of our first regional service," said FlySafair CEO Elmar Conradie.
For the Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius, Steven Obeegadoo, the route demonstrates the country's potential to diversify its tourism sector. According to Obeegadoo, Mauritius welcomed more than 120,000 travellers from South Africa before the Covid-19 crisis. A "growing market", he said.
From now on, FlySafair will offer two rotations per week on Tuesdays and Saturdays. On this route, it will be competing with its compatriots South African Airways, Comair but also with the Mauritian flagship, Air Mauritius.
Until now, FlySafair, which has been active since October 2014, has only served domestic routes from its bases in Johannesburg and Cape Town, with a fleet of around twenty all-Boeing aircraft. Outside its borders, the Safair Group subsidiary is also considering serving Zanzibar in Tanzania and Windhoek in Namibia.
