Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport

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.

"SSR Airport" redirects here. For the airport in Vanuatu with IATA code SSR, see Sara Airport.

Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport

Aéroport international Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam
Outside the new terminal in 2019
Summary
Airport typePublic
Owner/OperatorAirports of Mauritius Co. Ltd.
ServesPlaine Magnien
LocationPlaine Magnien
Hub forAir Mauritius
Elevation AMSL57 m / 186 ft
Coordinates20°25′48.10″S 57°40′58.88″E
Websitemauritius-airport.atol.aero
Map
MRU/FIMP
MRU/FIMP
MRU/FIMP (Indian Ocean)
MRU/FIMP
MRU/FIMP (Africa)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
14/32 3,370 11,056 Asphalt
Statistics (2017)
Passengers3,728,970
Terminal interior
Air Mauritius aircraft parked MRU

History

As a part of the defense of Mauritius, in 1942, when Mauritius was a Crown colony, the government started construction of a Royal Naval Air Station at Plaisance near Mahébourg. This was subsequently handed over to the Royal Air Force at the end of World War II and civilian operations started shortly afterwards. 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 (refurbishment began 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, Chennai, Dar es Salaam, Delhi, Durban, Hong Kong, Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo, Kuala Lumpur–International, London–Heathrow, Mahé, Mumbai, Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Perth, Rodrigues, Saint-Denis de la Réunion, Saint-Pierre de la Réunion, Shanghai–Pudong, Singapore
Seasonal: Geneva
Air Seychelles Mahé
Alitalia Seasonal: Rome–Fiumicino[6]
Austrian Airlines Seasonal: Vienna
British Airways Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo, London–Gatwick
Condor Seasonal: Frankfurt[7]
Corsair International Paris–Orly
Edelweiss Air Zürich[8]
Emirates Dubai–International
Eurowings Seasonal: Frankfurt[9]
Evelop Airlines Seasonal: Madrid
Kenya Airways Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta[10]
LOT Polish Airlines Seasonal charter: Warsaw-Chopin
Lufthansa Seasonal charter: Frankfurt
Mahan Air Seasonal charter: Tehran-Imam Khomeini[11]
Saudia Jeddah,[12] Riyadh[13]
South African AirwaysJohannesburg–O. R. Tambo
TUI Airways London–Gatwick
Seasonal charter: Copenhagen,[14] Helsinki,[15] Oslo–Gardermoen,[16] Stockholm–Arlanda[17]
Turkish Airlines Istanbul1
Notes

See also

References
  1. "History". Airports of Mauritius Co. Ltd. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2012. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  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. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. "Corporate Profile". Airports of Mauritius Co. Ltd. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "Aéroports de Paris subsidiaries to build and operate new Mauritius airport terminal". The Moodie Report. 27 May 2009. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  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. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. "Vola a Mauritius". Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  7. condor.com - Flugplan Sommer 2020 (German) retrieved 8 June 2020
  8. "Timetable Mauritius". www.flyedelweiss.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  9. Tore, Iuliia (5 March 2019). "Eurowings to Offer Long-haul Flights from Frankfurt and Munich". Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  10. "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.
  11. "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.
  12. "Saudia updates proposed Mauritius launch in Sep 2017". Routesonline. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  14. "Only Flight". tui.dk. Archived from the original on 18 September 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  15. "Only Flight". tui.fi. Archived from the original on 18 September 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  16. Ltd. 2019, UBM (UK). "TUI Nordic adds Oslo – Mauritius flights in 1Q19". Routesonline. Archived from the original on 31 December 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  17. "Only Flight". tui.se. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2018.

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