Emirates operates first commercial A380 flight to Mauritius

Emirates this week operated a one-off service of its flagship A380 to the island of Mauritius.
The first commercial flight of an A380 to the country was scheduled in celebration of the island’s 45th anniversary of independence.
The passengers, many of whom had booked especially to be on the unique flight, were joined by a top-level delegation from the airline including; Tim Clark, president of Emirates, Adnan Kazim, divisional senior vice president, planning and research, Sheikh Majid Al-Mualla, Emirates’ senior vice president, commercial operations — Gulf, Middle East and Iran and Ahmed Khoory, senior vice president, West Asia and Indian Ocean.
Upon landing at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport the aircraft was met with a ceremonial water cannon salute and the VIP delegation was welcomed by Sarupanand Kinnoo, acting-director of Civil Aviation, Serge Petit, CEO of Airports of Mauritius and André Viljoen, CEO of Air Mauritius, an Emirates’ code-share partner on this route.
“Emirates operation of the first commercial flight of an A380 to Mauritius on such a symbolic day is testament to the importance of the destination in our network,” said Tim Clark.
“Our partnership with the country and Air Mauritius has been strong since we started our operations ten years ago. As a major partner of the tourism industry, we will continue to support the island throughout our network to stimulate in-bound traffic,” he added.
“Our flagship aircraft is proving more and more popular, figures show that over 14 million passengers have now experienced a flight on the Emirates’ A380,” said Clark.
“Emirates remains committed to being a leader in offering our customers innovative products and services that provide them with an unsurpassed travel experience.”
Serge Petit, CEO of Airports of Mauritius, said: “The A380 brings with it the opportunity to increase the number of passenger seats to the island. This is where the significant investment in our brand new terminal and airside infrastructure as well as all our drive toward modernization would pay dividends.”
Emirates operates double-daily flights to Mauritius, served by a Boeing 777-300.