Dr S Chandran
Our family of 5, 2 adults and 3 children had an Air Mauritius flight MK 441 from Melbourne to Mauritius via Perth leaving Melbourne on the 30th of December evening landing in Perth on the 30th at 7 pm and then leaving Perth at 1 pm on the 31st to land in Mauritius at 5 pm on the 31st which would have allowed us to spend a much-anticipated New Year Eve with our family. I booked those flights in June 2023 and these were the only tickets available at the time in the week between Christmas and New Year.
We woke up on Saturday morning the 30th of December to find an email from Air Mauritius sent at 2 am informing us that our Perth to Mauritius flight has been delayed to a 5 pm departure landing in Mauritius at 9 pm on the 31st of December. No other mode of correspondence was used. If we had switched off our emails because we were on leave, we would never have known.
We spent the night of the 30th of December in Perth and woke up on the 31st of December morning to find another bureaucratic email from Air Mauritius to inform us that our flight will now leave at 10 am on the 1st of January. In essence, Air Mauritius had completely destroyed our hopes and long-standing plans of spending NYE with our family. We received no other correspondence from Air Mauritius till 3.30 pm on the 31st of December when a clumsy employee called us to inform us that our flight which was scheduled at 5 pm was not leaving till the next day.
No apology was ever made. No compensation, refund or help with hotel bookings was ever offered.
We had to beg to find us a room in a fully booked hotel on a very busy NYE. Thankfully the thoughtful hotel manager kindly opened a room so that our family of 5 had beds to sleep in. We had to pay A$500 for the room. We reached the airport the next day (1st of January) to be thrown a letter by the Air Mauritius staff. The letter requested that we asked our travel insurance for refund instead of Air Mauritius. No apologies were ever made.
The plane was carrying more than a dozen toddlers and numerous passengers were in transit to Africa and missed their connecting flight in Mauritius. Many of these young families spent NYE at the Perth airport as they had travelled from the Eastern states of Australia.
On arrival in Mauritius instead of an organized streamlined process, the international passengers were made to troll from one counter to the next to find out what arrangements has been made for the connections.
Our returning flight back to Melbourne, MK 440 was scheduled for 10.15 pm on Friday the 19th of January. On the 18th of January at 5 pm, we received a call from Air Mauritius informing us about the rescheduling of the flight to 20th of January at 11.30 am which meant we would be landing in Perth on the 20th of January at night-time. The employee had no idea about our connecting flight to Melbourne or any hotel arrangement. The response was that they were working on it.
Overnight our Qantas flight to Melbourne was rescheduled for Sunday the 21st at midday which meant we would have to spend the night once again in Perth. I called Air Mauritius at 9.15 am on the 19th January to enquire about accommodation overnight in Perth and once again their answer was that they were working on it and they would call me back within an hour.
I never received an answer. By 1 pm, we had severe doubts about our flights as neither the Mauritian airport nor Perth airport nor any flight scanning website was showing the 11.30 am flight from Mauritius to Perth and our Qantas app had updated to indicate that our Perth to Melbourne flight had once again been moved to 2 pm on Sunday the 21st of January.
I called Air Mauritius once again and spoke to a fumbling employee who told me that my Air Mauritius flight on the 20th of January at 11.30 am, was definitely confirmed.
At 2 pm, I received 15 emails from Air Mauritius, 3 for each traveler, all with the wrong time of travel.
At 3.30 pm, our Qantas app updated to indicate that the Air Mauritius flight from Mauritius to Perth had been moved from Saturday at 11.30 am to Saturday at 23.35 pm. The only correspondence I received from Air Mauritius was an email sent at 6.50 pm confirming that our flight on Saturday the 21st of January had indeed changed to 23.35 pm. Ground staff at the Mauritian airport was unaware of the change.
On the 21st of January, the plane left 30 minutes late because ground staff started boarding late despite the plane being at the gate all evening. When close to landing, passengers asked the air hostesses how to arrange transfer from the international terminal to the Qantas terminal in Perth, a curt announcement was made asking passengers to contact ground staff.
Ground staff of Air Mauritius in Perth simply ushered weary passengers to the shuttle bus not informing them that in fact the shuttle bus was infrequent, and a taxi was a must. No taxi vouchers were offered despite the delays of Air Mauritius which meant many passengers missed their connecting flight
We dragged our 5 large suitcases with our 3 children in tow and paid a taxi $60 for the transfer between terminals.
When we finally reached the Qantas terminal, the Qantas staff told us that Air Mauritius has not completed the electronic transfer of bags and as a consequence we had to pay A$400 on behalf of Air Mauritius. We had no choice as by then our departure time to Melbourne was only 30 minutes away.
The service of Air Mauritius is an absolute disgrace. Our going and incoming flights were changed more times than we cared to remember. Communication was limited and often inaccurate and delivered by poorly trained staff.
No apology, support, refund, or compensation was ever made by Air Mauritius. In fact, Air Mauritius has made no contact with travellers despite the botched-up incoming and departing flights.
The situation is made even worse considering that the country advertises itself as a 5-star holiday destination and its economy is heavily dependent on international tourism, yet the airline is incapable of providing even basic customer service.
It’s worth noting that Air Mauritius monopolizes most flights from Asia and all flights from Australia significantly limiting air travel between easily accessible wealthy countries. Air Mauritius refuses to provide flights out of the more populous and affluent states of Victoria and New South Wales equipped with large, adequately serviced airports no doubt due to the higher landing costs at Sydney and Melbourne international airports.
For the future of Mauritius, it is crucial that its airline raises its services to international standards and allows healthy competition.
Best Regards.
“I called Air Mauritius once again and spoke to a fumbling employee who told me that my Air Mauritius flight on the 20th of January at 11.30 am, was definitely confirmed.
At 2 pm, I received 15 emails from Air Mauritius, 3 for each traveller, all with the wrong time of travel.
At 3.30 pm, our Qantas app updated to indicate that the Air Mauritius flight from Mauritius to Perth had been moved from Saturday at 11.30 am to Saturday at 23.35 pm. The only correspondence I received from Air Mauritius was an email sent at 6.50 pm confirming that our flight on Saturday the 21st of January had indeed changed to 23.35 pm. Ground staff at the Mauritian airport was unaware of the change.”