Air Mauritius review by Andrew Morton

6 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Just returned from Mauriitius LHR-MAU-LHR. What a ghastly experience, and I can only endorse all the many critical comments on preceding reviews. I used the airline in 2002 from Paris, and have reasonably positive memories of the flight. If I had known what we were in for in 2007, I would never have countenanced using them again. I actually turned down the offer of BA at a slightly lower price! I can only assume the introduction of the Premium section has meant squashing the same number of seats into a smaller space - I understand the pitch is now 31" (seemed more like 28/29!) and I can honestly say this was my worst ever long haul flight experience - 12 hours trying to sleep or even be comfortable was just a nightmare. As if this was not bad enough, the IFE on my daughters seat in front (30B) did not work at all - we told the crew, they said they would do what they could - which was precisely nothing! Never mind, we thought at least as we reported it it would be fixed for the return journey - wrong! Same seat, same plane 8 days on and this time the screen worked but there was no audio at all. 12 hours on a plane for a 15 year old with no IFE was just too bad. I can only hope that with Virgin now on the route Air Mauritius will up it's game, but I will never know as there is no way I will ever knowingly use them again. Sorry Air Mauritius we love the island and will return, but it is just not acceptable to put your passengers through such a grim experience on 12 hour flights. I accept that Economy is what it says it is, and particularly for me at 6ft 3in it is never likely to be a pleasant experience, but other airlines manage to do it (Thai, Cathay, Malaysian even Emirates and Qatar), so why can't you!

Air Mauritius review by Stephen Spark

17 October 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-MRU-LHR Economy. The biggest problem is the seats on the latest A340-300E aircraft - if you're more than a slim 5ft 6in or have any kind of back problem, do not travel long-haul by Air Mauritius on these aircraft. Seat pitch has been reduced from 33in to 31in, and further restricted by the seatback pocket (the metal stiffener rubbed my knees raw) and the under-seat IFE box - and the system didn't even work on either of our seats. Cabin crew were sympathetic and did their best to help, even urging us to complain about the seats. I found that food was appreciably better and more imaginative MRU-LHR than vice versa; breakfast small and dull, but hot meals are generally good and smoked marlin starter rather fine. Plenty of sandwiches, tea, coffee and juice available from the rear galley. If buying a snack to take on board, buy from local shops or snack bars in Mauritius, not from the overpriced cafe at the airport.

Air Mauritius review by Mike Lancaster

17 October 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-MRU-LHR Premium Economy outbound & First Class inbound on new A340. Lots of legroom, 45” seat pitch in premium economy, SAS lounge access, two commendable meals and excellent service. The return flight in first class ticked all the right boxes. Air Mauritius has excellent on-demand entertainment. I fly the route regularly and it’s great to see the national airline making welcome improvements.

Air Mauritius review by Howard Smythe

9 October 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

I recently flew from Perth to Mauritius return and I have to say that this was one of the most uncomfortable flight that I have ever experienced even when compared with some of the Asian cheap flights on which I have flown recently. There was simply insufficient space between my seat and the seat in front for me to fit my legs and I was forced to have one leg in the aisle and the other bent side ways in the space between the seats. Airline staff were then asking me to move my leg so that they could get through and as I consequence I spent most of the flight standing near the toilets. I doubt very much that my wife and I will ever travel with Air Mauritius again unless they change their seating policy and give some consideration to those of us over six feet, given we pay the same airfare as everyone else.

Air Mauritius review by Paul Smith

27 September 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-MAU - First time flying with this airline. Outward flight was ok. Legroom seemed ok and the plane was quite new. Food was average, but can't expect too much in the way of cuisine on a plane. Air Mauritius lost one of our bags on the outward trip. How this can happen on a direct flight is beyond explanation. Bag arrived at our hotel the following day, but as this was our honeymoon it was something we did not really need to happen. Was offered a 2000 rupees (£30) by the airline as compensation. Return trip was worse. Seats were very uncomfortable and squashy. Also the black box on the seat was a problem. For a 12 hour flight Air Mauritius need to take better care of their passengers. Will look for alternate airlines for future visits to Mauritius.

Air Mauritius review by Greg Kemble

2 September 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-MAU-LHR recently and pleasantly surprised with the trip. The food in my opinion was excellent, very tasty, entertainment choice catered for everyone and staff were very good with my 2 yr old. At 6' 1" space was at a premium but I think everyone should expect that - outbound flight wasn't full so had extra room. Shortly after take off children on board were fed & watered so they were happy. I would happily travel with this airline again, arrived early at both destinations!!

Air Mauritius review by R Roberts

30 August 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

We flew with Air Mauritius to get married. Before we went we were told we could take the wedding dress on the plane with us and it would be put in a separate area. Onboard, they told us that it would have to be crammed into the overhead lockers!!! Everybody around us were very helpful and allowed us to carefully place the dress on top of the hand luggage no thanks to the staff! Another thing was the seat space. Im 5ft 10" and space was an issue. We are supposed to be in the modern age of technology and I agree the interactive touch screen monitors are good but the picture quality could do with improving. When you go to stretch out your legs under the chair in front you will find a massive black box. My guess this is the interactive part of the entertainment.

Air Mauritius review by Kevin Teerooven

3 August 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Geneva to Mauritius leg in business class. What a rip off. The business class is in fact a premium economy. The worst I have ever experienced. Even Cameroon Airlines have far better seats in business class to Air Mauritius. Champagne (sparkling wine) and wine are served in plastic cups, and the food awful - the list can go on and on.

Air Mauritius review by K Shrosbery

12 July 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

London - Mauritius return. Seats in economy very narrow, hard and with very small recline. I am 5ft 7ins tall and my knees were touching the back of the seat in front. Two meals provided - hot meal 2 hours into flight (vegetarian) boiled rice & red & green peppers (no flavour) Salad bowl, roll and creamy dessert. Very poor ! Breakfast served 1hr 45mins before landing - fruit juice, roll & small danish pastry, all cold & hard. Flight entertainment good with interactive maps, games, films etc. Would I fly Air Mauritius again - no.

Air Mauritius review by John Muir

30 June 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-Mauritius return. New Airbus 340 on both trips. Both flights on schedule. In-flight entertainment consisted of interactive channels featuring movies, music and games with seat back screen. Staff polite and generally attentive, and as much food or drink as you wanted was available in the rear galley. Food fine. It's difficult to make a 12h flight interesting, but overall I don't think you'd get better service with BA or Virgin - Air Mauritius's competition in the LHR-Mauritius route.

Air Mauritius review by Anees Moosa

27 June 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

My family (2 adults + 3kids) flew Air Mauritius from Jhb to Mauritius - a 4 hour flight. The staff were extremely polite and helpful especially to my kids. The people of Mauritius are generally humble and polite. However, overall I would rate the airline as 3 star - the food was OK.

Air Mauritius review by A Krummacher

8 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

What a disastrous airline! Supposed to travel NBO-MRU-NBO but flight got cancelled both ways. Airline informed us that the flight has been re- scheduled 3 days later for both departure and return flight, however as we had booked an all inclusive holiday that was not an option for us. After spending 2 days on the phone with Air Mauritius HQ in Mauritius we finally got re-routed via Johannesburg. In order to reconfirm our return flight we actually had to hire a car to drive all the way from our hotel to their HQ in Port Louis as daily phone calls proved useless. We finally got re-routed via Johannesburg with a transit time of 12 hours! Service on board clearly below standard; the food was poor and no response from crew to requests for additional drinks. Surely, I cannot recommend Air Mauritius.

Air Mauritius review by Rob Sawyer

20 April 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

I couldn't agree more with D Kleeman. Just came back on MK0046 on 14th April from MRU to LHR. I think I have flown on business or pleasure about 800+ times and am pretty sure the food was the worst I have ever had. Octopus for a starter was novel (probably about the best bit) after that it was so awful I can't even remember what it was. Totally unacceptable. We were surrounded by young kids (our two 9 and 12 behaved impeccably) running up and down the aisle as if it was an adventure playground - why don't the cabin staff do something?

Air Mauritius review by D Kleeman

26 February 2007

My family of five flew LHR-MRU return for a week's holiday in Mauritius. The flights were on time and crew generally helpful. No twelve hour flight can be super comfortable - especially with children. However, the food was really terrible on both flights. The children's food was inedible (and one of the choices contained nuts which is not clever these days). The adult's food was awful too. The only vaguely edible variant was a curry main course. The sweets were truly shaving-foam standard. I though that this level of airline food had gone out of fashion in the eighties, but Air Mauritius are keeping the tradition alive! Verdict: take your own food sufficent for the whole flight.

Air Mauritius review by Garrett Horn

26 February 2007

LHR to Mauritius return. Cabin crew polite and helpful, meals okay extra drinks and sandwiches available at rear of plane if requested. Seats comfortable - new seats and a great inflight entertainment also with a 9 inch personal screen on-demand video.

Air Mauritius review by René van Zijl

3 December 2006

Hope management of Air Mauritius read this!! I had two flights business class between Paris and Mauritius. Service, quality of food and drinks of 4 Star quality. Drawback are the seats and IFE-system. Business class seats by far the smallest I ever had and smallest pitch. Compare Air Mauritius on Skytrax with other airlines! Flights were A-340 and configuration is 2x3x2. Most airlines use 2-2-2. For a 11-12 hour flight the seats are extremely uncomfortable without any support for the legs. When seat in front is in sleeping position, the passenger almost sleep on my knees. IFE-system only 6 films and not on demand!? Next time to Mauritius I will avoid to fly them again!

Air Mauritius review by Val Green

30 November 2006

LHR to Mauritius return. Cabin crew polite and helpful, meals okay extra drinks and sandwiches available at rear of plane if requested. Seats comfortable.

Air Mauritius review by Joelle Finck

22 November 2006

LHR-Mauritius return, A340. I was impressed by quality of service on both flights. The staff were friendly and efficient and food was of a very good quality for an airline and plenty of it. Flight out was delayed by an hour and return flight was delayed by two hours, but with an explanation from staff. There was a fairly good selection of films to keep you entertained.

Air Mauritius review by Rob Chapman

9 November 2006

My wife and I recently travelled with Air Mauritius from Sydney to Nairobi, return, via Mauritius in Business Class. All flights were on time, in fact the NBO-MRU left early, as everyone had checked in and we were called 30 minutes ahead of time! The seats were comfortable, but not "sleepers", in both the Airbus 340 and A319. The aircraft were all clean, as were the toilets. IFE was ordinary, with small screens in the seat backs, and limited choice with no on demand. FA's were outstanding on every sector, calling us by name, and offering friendly, immediate service. There was a good range of drinks, and a delicious little plate of 3 different snacks to accompany the first drinks every time. The meals were overall very good, with outstanding entrees, desserts and cheeses, only let down a little by rather ordinary tasting and looking main courses. The helpings were more than adequate! The Business Lounges in Sydney and Mauritius were excellent, being clean and comfortable, but the Nairobi one was dingy and worn, with Windows 98 on the one slow, slow internet connection. This Lounge was shared by several airlines. The price of this whole flight was considerably less than other airlines, and we would have no hesitation in recommending this airline from our recent experience with them

Air Mauritius review by Terry Blackmore

22 September 2006

LHR - Mauritius return. The airline must have taken its staff to task over the adverse comments, because it was the most pleasant long-haul journey we have made — on time both routes, best legroom, best food, and service was of a high standard (bearing in mind that, for most of the flight, people sleep). The inflight entertainment was fine, with a choice of several films. Would not hesitate to fly Air Mauritius again

Air Mauritius review by Cameron Smith

28 August 2006

LHR-MRU-LHR. Travelled Business Class outbound, as we wanted the extra comfort and space for the long overnight flight. Everything was excellent, food tasty and wines served of very good quality, inflight entertainment went largely unused as we wanted to sleep and we were able to get a good seven hours sleep . Cabin crew very attentive yet unobtrusive, and the contents of the "goody bag" were welcome! Return trip in Economy and again we had no complaints, the seats were as comfy as might be expected in Economy - these seats are narrower than Business, the pitch is less. Food, entertainment and cabin crew were all very good, and the arrangement for drinks and sandwiches mentioned by the previous contributor was welcome and worked very well.

Air Mauritius review by Gary Hodges

23 August 2006

Heathrow to Mauritius return, Airbus 340. Seats were sufficiently comfortable and staff polite. The food was not hot on the outward flight and was generally not particulalry appetising. On the return flight we were able to get sandwiches and drinks between meals at the rear of the plane, which most passengers made the most of. Inflight entertainment was ok although the picture for one movie cut out early. Only a slight delay on return journey.

Air Mauritius review by Bronwyn Ferrier

22 August 2006

BC Perth-Mauritius-Antananarivo(TNR) (Madagascar) and returned through to Sydney. All sectors very good and received attentive service from cabin crew. This was our second trip flying BC with AM. The main complaint is not all their aircraft are equally comfortable. One aircraft in particular needs to be retired. In that plane, the seats did not recline very far and the leg supports are not attached to the seat (lift up on seat in front). The food in BC is excellent, or that has been our experience. Variety is good, hot - even on MRU/TNR which is only 1:40min, a full 3 couse meal was served. Returning to SYD from MRU, the flight departed around 2pm with a full hot meal served after takeoff - 2 hours out of SYD woken up with another full hot meal rather than the expected breakfast - ready for a 6am arrival! That was quite odd, as most other airlines provide local time meals as you cross the globe. We had a six hour layover in MRU before our flt to Madagascar and AM we quite happy for us to use the BC lounge for that time. Coming back to SYD there was no same day connection from TNR/MRU to MRU/SYD so AM provided a free nights accommodation at a resort near the airport with transfers.

Air Mauritius review by Krystyna Veerasamy

18 July 2006

Flew out of London Heathrow return. Cabin crew polite and accomodating. Drinks freely available and generous quantities. Have flown Air Mauritius many times and have to say that cabin comfort not as good as before; less legroom and seats not as comfortable. Inflight entertainment poor compared to the bigger airlines. Breakfast poor; bread roll and croissant but return flight meals better; extra bread rolls offered etc. Vegetarian option not very good but the same comment applies to most major airlines.

Air Mauritius review by S Vine

13 July 2006

Air Mauritius from Heathrow to get married and apprehensive after reading some previous comments. Apart from the food being of questionable quality, the flight went well. We flew economy and it was certainly better than short-haul economy on other airlines. The same went for the return flight. For anyone else concerned about obtaining water throughout the flight, I would suggest taking a bottle of water on board with you and then you have it at your fingertips!

Air Mauritius review by N Reeves

1 July 2006

JNB-MRU in Business. JNB airport was very quiet at 10 am and check in very easy - no queue and staff member at business desk polite and helpful. Called to board from Premier lounge to Gate 7 - very messy with eveyone left standing around for 20 mins and no real system of boarding - it could have been made so much easier. Once onboard (Airbus 319) coats taken, champagne and soft drinks offered. Cabin in good state of repair and condition. Cabin crew handed Menus out and took drinks order quickly. Very good choice of menu and wines but options soon ran out quickly so not all of our party got what they asked for. Despite this, the service and quality of food was very good with each course served with care and attention. Each passenger was addressed by name. The crew were particularly attentive as to drink refills etc. Entertainment a little limited (no personal TV) but adequate for a 4 hour flight. Seats were comfortable with good leg room and toilet kept clean throughout flight. Cleared immigration and customs in 10 minutes with no difficulty at all. In conclusion, this was an excellent first experience with Air Mauritius and based on this flight I would travel with them again. I suppose the real issue is - are they consistant in this level of service?. I will no doubt find out as I am likely to travel this route again.

Air Mauritius review by T Grayson

18 June 2006

Business class from Perth to Nairobi via Mauritius. The trip was excellent - seats on the 767 comfortable. Crew very friendly and helpful - the only problem being they didn't always provide the kids meal requested but they did try and provide alternatives on the flight. Check-in was painless and lounges were fine. All 4 flights on our trip were on time. The only negatives were that inflight entertainment was a bit basic - could be a problem on a longer or day flight. Air Mauritius business class doesn't compare to Qantas or BA, but is great value for money and I would recommend it.

Air Mauritius review by Zeina Vidler

3 June 2006

We flew out with this airline to get married in Mauritius. The outgoing plane was 50% empty so meant that moving seats wasn't a problem. There was a screaming child onboard who did not stop screaming for the entire 12 hours - and staff did nothing to try and assist the harassed mother and had a couldn't care less attitude when other passengers complained. This was a night flight after all. The staff were fairly rude and did not respond well to a polite request for water from myself. In the end I went to the back of the plane to get the water myself - it was handed over to me like it was gold dust and I was made to feel guilty for asking! I had to re-request a vegetarian meal that I had ordered at check in, and only after some deliberation between the crew, did I actually get a meal. On the way back, I was handed a tray of food only to have it taken off me mid mouthful, by a sarcastic crew member who told me it wasn't for me but another Asian vegetarian onboard. I was stunned. The toilets throughout the 12 hour flight were not cleaned either and the hygiene was very poor. The snacks available during the return day flight were on a self-service basis which meant if you happened to be sitting at the back of the plane like we were you had a constant flow of traffic up and down the aisles. If we go back to Mauritius in the future, I will look to fly with another airline.

Air Mauritius review by Sarah Whitman

24 May 2006

After having a perfect holiday in Mauritius the only downfall were the Air Mauritius flights. The seats were so uncomfortable - never experienced such hard seats before and it was a problem due to the length of the flight. The food was really terrible we never expect much but it was bad by any standards. FA's were ok, however on the outward journey we did have turbulance and when the seatbelt signs came on no FA's came round to check if everyone was wearing them which I personally thought was a bit poor. If we return to Mauritius would definitely choose a different airline.

Air Mauritius review by Chris Rupp

2 May 2006

I travelled LHR-MRU return. Outgoing the plane was clean and about 60% full so one could move seats to get a window view. Staff were friendly and efficient and no lack of drinks. Return journey was delayed by about one hour, but FA's again friendly and efficient with two main meals during the 12 hour flight - we even had a little gathering at the back of various passengers to while away the time and no problem with asking for drinks or sandwiches which appeared from nowhere! IFE was behind the seat screens. Main comment was that the seats are not very comfortable, and because of the tight schedules and turnaround times, minor faults such as the overhead lights not working and headphone connection being loose are not dealt with immediately.

Air Mauritius review by Kaye Suzor

26 April 2006

Perth - Mauritius return in Business class. Wonderful service from attentive flight attendents, and food was good. Only problem I had was that the return flight landed early in Perth so I missed the end of the movie. I would recommend Air Mauritius to anyone.

Air Mauritius review by Andy Murphy

18 April 2006

Economy class to Mauritius from Heathrow return. No delays or problems with service either way. Seats are not fantastic but leg-room is good (I am 5' 11" and had a good 4 inches in front of my knees). Food was better than most I've had on a plane, and it was actually hot. Staff were polite and friendly. Some reviewers have implied that Mauritian passengers get preferential treatment, i.e. being served their meals in advance of everyone else. I don't think this is the case and those reviewers may have misinterpreted people being provided with pre-booked vegetarian or halal meals (remember that many Mauritians are Hindu or Muslim). There was a minor 'air rage' incident on the way out, which the staff dealt with admirably (and perhaps explains any perceived reluctance to keep feeding people alcohol). The flight back was two- thirds empty and there were no problems with people moving seats once the plane had taken off. Overall, we had a perfectly satisfactory experience and would have no problems flying with Air Mauritius again.