Through this agreement signed with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd on Tuesday 31 May, Air Mauritius Limited will be able to aim higher. Through this agreement, HAL promises to train Mauritians in the field of Aeronautics.
This agreement marks the extension of existing cooperation as well as the exploration of new avenues of commercial collaboration between HAL and AML. The MoU was signed at the Air Mauritius Center in Port Louis on Tuesday 31 May by Marday Venketasamy, the Chairman of Air Mauritius and Puneet Kumar, Additional Managing Director of HAL on behalf of Apurba Roy, the GM. While HAL will provide maintenance training and upgrades for the DO-228 fleet, technical and logistical support, the agreement also opens up the possibility of setting up an MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) hub for the DO-228 fleet in the Indian Ocean region. As Marday Venketasamy, the President of Air Mauritius, said in his statement. “Air Mauritius is very proud to celebrate the continued technical support for the Dornier 228 aircraft. The collaboration with HAL will be a key factor in expanding our MRO services regionally and supporting the government’s vision for aerospace MRO in Mauritius. Namely, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is the manufacturer of the Dornier HAL – DO – 228 aircraft, which was developed for coast guard and maritime surveillance, among others.” Mauritius has three Dornier 228 aircrafts in the Maritime Air Squadron, a branch of the National Coast Guard, under the Mauritius Police Force. Since 1990, Air Mauritius Technical Services has been working with the police to provide technical support to its Dornier fleet and will extend its support to the increased fleet.
Marday Vencatasamy also hinted that “the signing between Hindustan Aeronautics and Air Mauritius goes beyond this as the agreement covers the maintenance of aircrafts that are sold in Mauritius, Africa or the Indian Ocean. It is Air Mauritius that will take the responsibility to take care of the maintenance. For us, this is an opportunity to position Mauritius as a ‘Hub’ for aircraft maintenance.”
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Air Mauritius- 1 increment paid only
This is the criticism of the Air Mauritius Cabin Crew Association (AMCCA) where the employees have received only one increment of about Rs 800 per month, while the promise was for 3, since 2019. Radhakrishna Sadien supports them and believes that “given the high cost of living and the fact that Air Mauritius has announced that it is making profits, it would be commendable if the administrators would give the employees of Air Mauritius their due salary increases. I appeal to the administration to respect what was already planned,” he said, noting that the difficult times, such as Covid-19 and the fact that the company had gone into voluntary administration, were exceptional and understandable times. But now, “Air Mauritius is back on track, they deserve their 3 increments.
More on this Increment issue, Airport Holdings Limited is also still working on the fate of Airmate employees, who have not received any increase. The unionists have even sought the intervention of the Ministry of Labour. “The collective agreement signed in 2019 has remained intact. It is unacceptable that only Air Mauritius employees are considered for this increase,” said Reaz Chuttoo.
