Air Mauritius will increase the frequency of its service from London Gatwick to at least five flights a week year-round, possibly rising back up to a daily service by 2028.
The promise to raise the frequency was made to the Chairman of the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority Dinesh Burrenchobay following ‘a long meeting’ with the airline last Friday, he told Travel Gossip.
Speaking at the first of three UK roadshows hosted by the tourist board this week, in London, Manchester and Birmingham, Dinesh said the lack of air capacity was one of the reasons for a ‘slowdown’ in UK visitor numbers to the island.
They were 2% lower last year than in 2024 and there was a further 11% drop in the first half of this year, mainly due to the Middle East conflict.
However, in August, UK visitor numbers were up for the first time in seven months, rising 5.2% year on year, fuelled mainly by last-minute bookings, said Dinesh.
Overall, Mauritius international visitor numbers are up 2% over 2025, which was a record year with 1.4 million arrivals, and the island is expecting a ‘very busy’ end to 2026.
However, it believes the UK market – its second largest after France – is underperforming. “I think there is more potential,” added Dinesh.
“There isn’t one reason for the slowdown, but a shortage of air capacity isn’t helping, so we have been talking to the national carrier.
“We had a long meeting on Friday and Air Mauritius has committed to increase its frequency back to five flights a week, maybe even six or seven. It didn’t commit to a timeline, but I think we will get extra flights from the UK by next summer.”
Air Mauritius operated a daily service from London Gatwick up to last year when it reduced its frequency to five flights a week, occasionally dropping to four in low season, due to a lack of demand.
Air Mauritius UK Country Sales Manager Allan Owen agreed the airline was planning to rebuild its frequency from London back up to a daily service by summer 2028.
“We are looking at the tourist board to increase knowledge of Mauritius and what it has to offer and we will increase capacity in line with rising demand,” said Allan.
“We need the demand to be there, because while we can fill our planes in July and August, and at Christmas, Easter and half-term, we need to see more demand year-round.”
Air Mauritius has recruited a new sales executive, Darren McCormick based in Manchester, to work with business partners in the north, and it is looking to recruit two more sales executives for the south, based in London.
Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority will launch a global marketing campaign to promote attractions beyond the beach later this year, at a cost of around £785,000, including media advertising and posters on the London Underground. “Nothing annoys me more than seeing our competitors adverts on the Tube and we’re not there,” laughed Dinesh.
He is also looking to work with celebrity influencers to become ambassadors for the island.
