Air Mauritius’ first flight to Shanghai left last night with over 200 passengers on board. After a short transit in Kuala Lumpur, the flight is expected to land at Shanghai International Airport (Pudong) later today (July 5, 2011).
The once weekly flight is operated by an Airbus A330-200, with 24 seats in lie flat business class and 251 seats in economy class. Passengers last night were greeted by a Lion Dance and a special ambiance to mark the occasion.

Air Mauritius had the privilege of welcoming His Excellency the President of the Republic and Lady Jugnauth, Honourable Bodha, Minister of Tourism and Leisure and Mr Didier Robert, President du Conseil Régional de la Réunion among other distinguished guests on this inaugural flight to Shanghai – a breakthrough also for the region as Air Mauritius becomes the first airline flying to Shanghai from this part of the World. The launch functions in Shanghai will include a ceremony on arrival later today in the presence of the Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of China and the Director of Shanghai International Airport; the inauguration of the Air Mauritius office in Shanghai on the 6th of July in the morning and two promotional events on the 6th and 7th of July in collaboration with the MTPA.
Andre Viljoen, the airline’s Officer in Charge stated: “We are delighted to be making history with this first ever operations to China. We are also delighted to be landing in Shanghai – one of the world’s most exciting cities. We are convinced that this new service will act as a boost to cultural, economic and tourism exchanges between China and Mauritius, and indeed with our region. We see great opportunities in China as we rebalance growth to the emerging economies in line with the Government’s vision. This is why we have already announced that the present service to Shanghai will evolve to a nonstop flight in February 2012 ahead of the Chinese New Year and, if demand follows, we will operate a second flight by October 2012.We hope that our travel and cargo partners will take full advantage of this new flight for developing business to one of the world’s most exciting regions.

We also hope that the new service will act as a catalyst for enhanced cultural and economic exchanges between our two regions. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have made this flight possible – the authorities in China and in Mauritius, and the whole team at Air Mauritius who spared no effort to ensure we are able to operate only five months after having taken the decision to flights to Shanghai. Well done team.