Air Mauritius to fly bigger planes

A burgeoning traffic of tourists from India has forced Air Mauritius to replace its existing 175 seater Boeing 767 aircraft by 309 seater Airbus 340.

Currently the airline, the sole operator in the sector, flies nine flights a week "� six from Mumbai, two from New Delhi and one from Chennai.

More than 30,000 Indians visited Mauritius during the year ended December 2005. Yearly the number is growing at a rate of 30-35 per cent, said CG Xavier Luc Duval, deputy prime minister of Mauritius.

"All our planes will be replaced with new Airbus 340s this year. We are planning additional flights from Bangalore," said Nirvan Veerasamy, managing director, Air Mauritius.

The company is also in talks with airlines such as Air-India and Indian Airlines to fill in the gap for more number of airlines.

"Air-India is expected to add about four weekly flights to Mauritius," said sources close to the development.