Mauritius celebrates independence anniversary with Emirates A380 flight

Emirates has 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 & 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, chief executive of Airports of Mauritius and André Viljoen, chief executive 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 Clark.

WOur 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.

After a welcoming ceremony, Mauritian VIPs, media and members of the travel industry were given a guided tour of the A380 by Emirates cabin crew, several of whom are from Mauritius.

Also joining the tour were a group of 150 young Mauritians from various regions of the island who got the opportunity to watch and play Emirates’ award-winning in-flight entertainment, system, ice, before being given a special gift-pack to commemorate the day.