Air Mauritius has taken delivery of its first A330-900 — on lease from Air Lease Corporation (ALC) — during a ceremony held in Toulouse.

The national carrier of the Republic of Mauritius is the first A330neo operator based in the southern hemisphere — and the first airline in the world to operate a combination of the A330neo and A350 XWB.

Benefitting from the A330neo’s operating economics, and configured with 28 business-class and 260 economy-class seats, the A330neo will fly on routes connecting Mauritius to Europe (mainly London and Geneva), India and South East
Asian routes — plus regional destinations including Johannesburg, Antananarivo and Reunion Island.

Air Mauritius CEO Somas Appavou said: “I am delighted to welcome our first Airbus A330neo — another milestone in our fleet modernisation programme.

“The addition of two A330neos to our fleet will bring more flexibility and efficiency to our operations, while supporting our network strategy.

“The A330neo offers similar levels of comfort to the A350 XWB, which has received very favourable feedback from our customers.”

Air Mauritius currently operates nine Airbus aircraft — two A350-900s, three A340-300s, two A330-200s and two A319s — on its regional and long-haul services.