We are delighted to announce that Air Mauritius, the Indian Ocean’s leading airline, has been awarded the prestigious 4-star professional quality rating by airline and airport consultancy SKYTRAX on 8 July 2014.

The award was presented to Air Mauritius chairman Appalsamy (Dass) Thomas, and the CEO, André Viljoen by Skytrax chairman Edward Plaisted at a ceremony held at the Swami Vivekandanda International Convention Centre on 8 July, in the presence of Air Mauritius team memers.

Receiving the highly-coveted award with Mr Viljoen, Mr Thomas said “I am delighted to be receiving this award together with André on behalf of all of us at Air Mauritius. The 4-star status places Air Mauritius in another league – among the world’s best 40 airlines. It is also testimony to the great work accomplished over the past years by the board, management and all team members to take the airline to further heights. We now need to continue our efforts in order to sustain the improvements made and continue to deliver value to our customers. This is the only way to remain in the game in this highly competitive industry.”

André Viljoen, who spearheaded the airline’s recovery and sustainability programme known as the 7-Step Plan, was equally thrilled with the award.

“We have come a long way from where we were three years ago, “ he said. “We took some tough decisions and revised our business model with the assistance of Seabury APG. Once approved by the board, we all embraced the 7 Step Plan as OUR PLAN and have kept focusing on it. I wish to dedicate this award to all the team members of Air Mauritius for all the hard work they have put in since we embarked on our journey to Step UP service.”

Keeping the focus firmly on the customer was – and continues to be – a fundamental guiding principle. “Step 6 was about customer experience, and we set up a Customer Experience function,” he added. “We enlisted the support of Ron Kaufman to assist us with an education programme for the entire organisation. We also set up many project teams to work on the improvement projects. These were rolled out in record time, showing the commitment of the whole company to make change happen.”

André  Viljoen also acknowledged that these improvements have enabled Air Mauritius to reach the coveted 4-star status. “I’m grateful to Skytrax for this recognition and our challenge now will be to constantly deliver 4-star standards across the whole airline,” he said. “This is a challenge and a commitment our team is prepared to take.”

Visit the Air Mauritius website to check availability and book your next flight.