Air Mauritius has adjusted its flight schedule at the beginning of this week. The airline has cancelled a series of flights in order to put an end to the long series of delays faced by its passengers.
Since mid-December, the national aviation company has been causing numerous delays and cancellations for its clients, due to technical issues, staff availability, and weather conditions.
Since February 24th, a problem with the engine of one of its A330-200 planes has had a snowball effect on its operations. This has forced the company to revise its flight schedule. The company has cancelled some flights in order to avoid imposing delays on its clients.
This A330-200, one of the two planes leased last year for a period of three years, broke down in Mumbai. Since then, it has been waiting for a new engine. However, the type of engine needed for this plane is currently unavailable.
Air Mauritius is therefore dealing with one less plane in its fleet. “Planes are operating at full capacity and spare parts suppliers are having trouble keeping up. This is due to the strong recovery of the global aviation industry after Covid-19.
The type of engine we are looking for is very difficult to find at the moment. Since we have a small fleet, having one less plane is a problem. And we are operating more flights than before Covid-19,” explains a reliable source at Air Mauritius.
Instead of rescheduling and grouping flights, the company is working on a new schedule. This was finalized at the beginning of the week and some flights have been cancelled. Air Austral in La Réunion is experiencing similar issues.
Premature wear problems on the Pratt & Whitney engines of two Airbus A220 planes have grounded these aircraft for several weeks. This is for an indefinite period. Other airlines are also facing similar experiences.
Three A320 planes belonging to Swiss, for example, are currently grounded due to engine problems. The airline will have to give up a total of eight planes in the coming months, due to maintenance work and parts availability.
Source: Defi Media
