Mauritius new airport terminal gets VIP opening

This new facility with a total area of 57,000 square metres will cater for up to 4.5 million passengers a year, thus doubling the capacity of the country’s international airport. The terminal was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Dr Navinchandra Ramgoolam and will support the country in addressing issues related to the airport complex, which is the only tourist gateway connecting Mauritius with the rest of the world.

Inspired by the Ravenala madagascariensis, commonly known as the traveller’s tree, this industrial facility was developed to meet environmental standards. The project has taken three years to complete with investment amounting to $305 million by the Government of Mauritius with the support of the China Exim Bank.

The development, design, construction and operation of the new passenger terminal was mangaged through the establishment of a Mauritian company, Airport Terminal Operations Limited (ATOL), a partnership between the state-owned Airports Mauritius Co. Ltd (AML) and Aéroports de Paris Management (ADPM), a subsidiary of Aéroports de Paris (ADP) Group.

The airport sector contributes about 15% to the country’s gross domestic product and has created more than 7,000 jobs in Mauritius. Serge Petit, Chief Executive Officer of AML, welcomed the event and expressed his pride in the successful completion of this major project for Mauritius. “With an overall investment exceeding MUR14 billion in the construction of the new terminal with scope to double existing capacity, the resurfacing and extension of the runway and the construction of an emergency runway/parallel taxiway the SSR International Airport can now accommodate large aircrafts,” he said. “That will place the airport of Mauritius among the best in Africa and in the category of airports in the world handling 2 to 5 million passengers.”

Bruno Mazurkiewicz, Chief Executive Officer of ATOL, said, “In the current context where Mauritius is positioning itself as a transit platform, it is more than ever necessary to anticipate the needs of passengers and airlines, and this implies improving the quality of services. Leveraging the expertise of Aéroports de Paris Group, ATOL will pursue its strategy to develop its passenger-handling capacity and improve the quality of services provided to airlines, partners, passengers and the general public.”

The new terminal has five new docking stations, in addition to the 3 existing ones and 7 passenger boarding bridges for simultaneous handling of 6 wide-bodied aircraft. At peak times, the terminal can handle up to 14 flight departures and arrivals. The new parking area has room for a total of more than 600 vehicles and the raised access road to the terminal has two separate lanes to allow greater fluidity in the dropping off of passengers travelling to the airport by car or by bus. The new terminal has a modern and bright atmosphere and is designed for the convenience of passengers. This industrial facility is distinguished by both the quantity and quality of facilities available: the upgrading of the existing infrastructure includes passenger drop-off areas on the raised access road, the timeliness of services, baggage-handling as well as safety and security systems.

The preparation of the new facilities engaged the involvement of all airport stakeholders and enabled the planning of operational tests as well as staff training ahead of the transfer of 17 airlines serving more than 35 destinations worldwide.