Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport

Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport
Aéroport international Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam
The old terminal
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner/Operator Airports of Mauritius Co. Ltd.
Serves Port Louis
Location Plaine Magnien
Hub for Air Mauritius
Elevation AMSL 57 m / 186 ft
Coordinates 20°25′48.10″S 57°40′58.88″E / 20.4300278°S 57.6830222°E / -20.4300278; 57.6830222Coordinates: 20°25′48.10″S 57°40′58.88″E / 20.4300278°S 57.6830222°E / -20.4300278; 57.6830222
Website mauritius-airport.atol.aero
Map
Location in Mauritius
MRU
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
14/32 3,370 11,056 Asphalt
Statistics (2017)
Passengers 3,728,970

Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (IATA: MRU, ICAO: FIMP) is the main international airport in Mauritius. It is located 26 nautical miles (48 km) southeast of the capital city of Port Louis. The airport was previously known as the Plaisance Airport and has direct flights to several destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe and is home to the country's national airline Air Mauritius. Airports of Mauritius Co. Ltd (AML) is the owner and operator of the airport, the Government of Mauritius is the major shareholder of AML.

History

In 1942, when Mauritius was a Crown colony, the government decided to build a small airport at Plaine Magnien near Mahébourg. The airport was used to import products from the United Kingdom and its colonies, as well as for exports. The airport was used as a military base for the Royal Air Force during World War II. The operations of the civil airport started just after the Second World War which gave a boost to the Mauritian economy.[1]

The first flight to Rodrigues island was made on 10 September 1972, an Air Mauritius flight from Plaisance airport to the Plaine Corail Airport (now Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport) at Rodrigues using a Twin Otter (3B-NAB). Later the Twin Otters were replaced by ATR 42-300 and ATR 42-500 twin turboprops.

Later in 1986, infrastructure works were undertaken to accommodate larger aircraft. Thus, a new terminal was built including airbridges to meet the expected increase in traffic growth, and a car park attached to the new building and customs service for international routes. The new terminal consisted of two floors and could accommodate up to four aircraft simultaneously via airbridges.

Facilities

A new passenger terminal was inaugurated on 30 August 2013, and became fully operational in September 2013.[2] The structure of the New Airport Terminal is designed after the "Traveller's palm", a tropical plant that grows on Mauritius. It is connected to the existing terminal (scheduled for refurbishment beginning in 2014) and has a capacity of 4 million passengers. Airport Terminal Operations Ltd (ATOL) is responsible for the design, building and operation of the new terminal building.[3]

The new terminal, which cost US$306 million, is in line with the "Maurice Ile Durable" concept. Environmental and ecological aspects taken into consideration include using solar energy collected by photovoltaic cells, recovering rain water, integrating nature to the heart of the building, and including thermo-insulated facades to reduce heat gain.[4] The terminal covers an area of 57,000 square meters and is equipped with five boarding gates with airbridges, including one compatible with the large Airbus A380, check-in desks for departing passengers, immigration counters, and baggage carousels.[5]

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Air Austral Saint-Denis de la Réunion, Saint-Pierre de la Réunion
Air France Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Air Madagascar Antananarivo
Air Mauritius Antananarivo, Bengaluru, Cape Town, Chengdu, Chennai, Dar es Salaam, Delhi, Durban, Hong Kong, Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo, Kuala Lumpur–International, London–Heathrow, Moroni, Mumbai, Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Perth, Rodrigues, Saint–Denis de la Réunion, Saint-Pierre de la Réunion, Shanghai–Pudong, Singapore, Wuhan[6]
Seasonal: Amsterdam, Geneva
Air Seychelles Mahé
Alitalia Seasonal: Rome–Fiumicino (begins 28 October 2018)[7]
Austrian Airlines Seasonal: Vienna
British Airways Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo, London–Gatwick
Condor Frankfurt
Corsair International Paris–Orly
Edelweiss Air Zürich[8]
Emirates Dubai–International
Eurowings Cologne/Bonn (ends 27 October 2018),[9] Munich[10]
Seasonal: Düsseldorf (begins 26 November 2018)[11]
Evelop Airlines Seasonal: Madrid
KLM Seasonal: Amsterdam[12]
Kenya Airways Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta[13]
LOT Polish Airlines Seasonal charter: Warsaw-Chopin (begins 7 November 2018)
Lufthansa Seasonal: Frankfurt[14]
Mahan Air Seasonal charter: Tehran-Imam Khomeini[15]
Saudia Jeddah,[16] Riyadh[17]
South African AirwaysJohannesburg–O. R. Tambo
Thomas Cook Airlines Seasonal: Manchester
TUI Airways London–Gatwick[18]
Seasonal charter: Copenhagen
TUI fly Nordic Seasonal charter Helsinki, Luleå, Stockholm
Turkish Airlines Istanbul–Atatürk1
Notes

Accidents and incidents

28 November 1987 – A South African Airways Boeing 747-200 Combi operating Flight 295 experienced an in-flight fire over the Indian Ocean while en-route to the airport. The plane crashed into the ocean, killing all 159 people on board. The plane's wreckage was discovered over 4,000 meters below the surface of the ocean. The cause of the fire has never been determined.[19]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "History". Airports of Mauritius Co. Ltd. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  2. ↑ "AÉROPORT SSR : Nouveau terminal, ouverture confirmée pour mars 2013" (in French). Le Mauricien. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  3. ↑ "Corporate Profile". Airports of Mauritius Co. Ltd. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  4. ↑ "Aéroports de Paris subsidiaries to build and operate new Mauritius airport terminal". The Moodie Report. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "New airport terminal on time and on budget, says Prime Minister". Government of Mauritius. Archived from the original on 15 November 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  6. ↑ sina_mobile. "武汉开通直飞毛里求斯航班 往返最低4000元还免签！". hb.sina.cn. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  7. ↑ "{title}". Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  8. ↑ "Timetable Mauritius". www.flyedelweiss.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  9. ↑ Von Reinhard Kowalewsky. "Eurowings verlegt Langstrecken-Flüge von Köln/Bonn nach Düsseldorf". Rp-online.de. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  10. ↑ 2018, UBM (UK) Ltd. "Eurowings W18 long-haul changes as of 11APR18".
  11. ↑ 2018, UBM (UK) Ltd. "Eurowings adds long-haul charters in W18". Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  12. ↑ "KLM adds Mauritius from late-Oct 2017". Routesonline. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  13. ↑ "Kenya Airways launches flights to Mauritius :: Kenya – The Standard". Standardmedia.co.ke. 6 February 2018. Archived from the original on 6 February 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  14. ↑ "Lufthansa Adds 3 Destinations from Dec 2015; Transfer Select A340 Fleet to CityLine :: Routesonline". Airlineroute.net. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  15. ↑ "Mahan Air appoints APG as GSA representative in France – APG Network". Apg-ga.com. 19 July 2017. Archived from the original on 13 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  16. ↑ "Saudia updates proposed Mauritius launch in Sep 2017". Routesonline. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  17. ↑ "{title}". Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  18. ↑ "All airlines flying from Mauritius to Gatwick, London". Info.flightmapper.net. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  19. ↑ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 747-244B ZS-SAS Mauritius". aviation-safety.net. Archived from the original on 5 July 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.

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