For small countries, especially island countries, such as Mauritius that live off tourism an airline capable of attracting visitors and portraying the country’s image abroad is extremely important. This exactly why the flag carrier of Mauritius, Air Mauritius (IATA Code MK) is upgrading its fleet. Let’s talk about the latest new aircraft order placed with Airbus.
The Air Mauritius Airbus Order at The Paris Air Show
The news of Air Mauritius ordering 3 new planes was clearly overshadowed by the announcement of the huge Indigo A320 order. However this order is just as important for the small island nation of Mauritius.
The airline has added to the Airbus order list 3 more Airbus A350-900s. The Airline already operates a fleet of 4 Airbus A350-900, therefore with the arrival of these extra 3 planes it’ll rise to 7.
Including the Airbus A350-900, Air Mauritius operates as of June 2023:
| Manufacturer | Type | Quantity | Registration | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  Airbus | A350-900 | 4 | 3B-NBP, 3B-NBQ, 3B-NCE, 3B-NCF |
| Airbus | A330-900 | 2 | 3B-NCU, 3B-NCV |
| Airbus | A330-200 | 1 | 3B-NCL |
|  ATR | ATR-72 | 3 | 3B-NBG, 3B-NBN, 3B-NBO |
Why is The Airbus A350-900 a Good Fit For Air Mauritius
Mauritius’ main tourist market is Europe. Tourists head to the the island state both in winter, to get away from the cold, and in the summer time to enjoy their holidays. In the top 10 nationalities per number of tourist 7 are located in Europe. Therefore it is of strategic importance that Air Mauritius has planes capable of serving all major airports in Europe and capable of competing in terms of hard product with the much larger airlines that operate out of the area.
The A350-900 allows to fit state of the art cabin interiors while serving even extremely long routes to northern Europe and Australia.
The MK Airbus A350-900 Configuration
MK has all of its Airbus A350s configured with the same layout. Therefore it is highly likely that these new planes ordered will also have this same layout. Specifically the Air Mauritius A350-900s feature:
- 28 Business Flat Bed Seats in a 1-2-1 layout (Stelia Solsyts III)
- 298 Economy Class Seats in a 3-3-3 layout (Recaro CL3710)
The planes are also WiFi capable and every seat on the A350-900, both in Business and Economy class, features its own personal entertainment screen with power socket and USB slot.
