New flight link with Guangzhou to boost Reunion Island tourism

The close cooperation between members of the Vanilla Island organization members has brought yet more positive results for Reunion Island Tourism (IRT). An announcement made yesterday confirmed that a new codeshare agreement was signed between Air Austral, the home airline of Reunion Island and Air Madagascar, to operate a new service to Guangzhou, China’s third largest city.

Come September 15, an Air Madagascar Airbus A340 will stopover every Tuesday and Saturday at the Roland Garros International Airport of Reunion Island’s capital, St. Denis, before then flying with full fifth freedom rights on to China. The flight originates in Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital, but it is the stop in Reunion Island which makes the operation viable as a result of the sharp rise in demand in China for holidays on the island.

Reunion Island, as it did a year earlier with South Africa, waived key requirements for a visa for tourists from China and India last year, leading to an instant boom in visitor arrivals.

Other flights to China are presently operated by Air Mauritius with immediate onward connections to Reunion Island.

Air Austral does not at present operate flights to China but serves Bangkok and Chennai in India. The airline also connects this French region to Paris and Marseille, while in Africa and across the Indian Ocean, offers flights to Johannesburg, three destinations on Madagascar, to Mayotte, the Comoros, Mauritius, and to the Seychelles.

For more details on Destination Reunion Island, click on www.reunion.fr , and for information about Air Austral and Air Madagascar, visit www.air-austral.com and www.airmadagascar.com