GROUNDBREAKING AGREEMENT AMONG VANILLA ISLAND AIRLINES IN THE MAKING
(Posted 27th May 2015)
June 18th is D-Day for the national airlines of the Vanilla Island group, when they are expected to sign, what has been described, as a ground breaking cooperation agreement in the capital of Madagascar, Antananarivo.
Among the signatories will be Air Seychelles, Air Mauritius, Air Madagascar and Air Austral.
The deal was agreed upon by a ministerial meeting of the Indian Ocean Commission last week which also took place in Antananarivo.
A statement received from a source close to the Indian Ocean Commission speaks of significant and concrete improvements vis a vis air connectivity among the islands, for long a key objective of the tourism ministers who make up the Vanilla Islands ministerial working group. The cooperation is seen as a major factor to ensure that air links are not only established but reliably maintained, as fares which the people of the islands can affords and which help to attract more tourists on itineraries covering more than just one island.
Precursor to this development was the Routes Africa Conference which was held in the Seychelles, which will be followed by a meeting of African tourism and transport ministers, in conjunction with ICAO and UNWTO.
Aviation sources on the African mainland were swift to point out that there too cooperation is the key for future survival, in particular when taking into account the competitive onslaught of the Gulf carriers in particular which in recent years have eroded the client base for national airlines and pushed the percentage of traffic carried by African carriers ever further down.
Be sure you watch this space for details of the new aviation accord once it has been signed and made available.
