Madagascar Airlines (ex-Air Madagascar) announced the cancellation of its international flights due to “operational constraints”.
This means that the service of Paris that she operated these last weeks with wet lease devices (rental with crew), in connection with the German start-up long-haul U.S.C., is no longer relevant, with no further indication of the date of a possible resumption. At the head of the Board of Directors of Madagascar Airlines since November 15, 2022, Rinah Rakotomangaalso resigned by surprise last Friday, creating even more confusion in the company, even if it asks in its resignation letter to remain in an administrator position (sic). In her letter, she mentions a “deterioration of the relationship situation” within the company which would have considerable impacts on operations. Mary Rakotondraibe, who had already held this position before, replaced him the next day.
On the sidelines of the inauguration of a Madagascar Airlines agency in Toamasina, which had undergone a renovation, she had previously provided explanations regarding the delays and the flight cancellations that the national company has been forced to proceed recently, reports the local site 2424.mg. “They are exclusively linked to technical and operational problems. We are therefore sometimes forced to take certain measures to guarantee, above all, the safety of passengers.”
Aside from flights to 11 destinations in indoor networkMadagascar Airlines also operates flights on the regional network of which at the start and towards The meeting And Mayotte. The resumption of its service on the island Mauritius which was scheduled for October 29 is postponed for ” Soon “ as indicated by the national company in Prime Magazine. She also plans to operate on Moroni again in the near future.
Thierry de Bailleulthe general director of Madagascar Airlines (a formerAir France-KLM, Emirates And Qatar Airways), launched a week ago, as a warning, to hope for approval of the company’s development plan which he had submitted to the government for the start of financing before January 2024. A complicated deadline while the country is in the middle of political crisis less than two weeks before the first round of the presidential elections (the second round on December 20, 20024). Thierry De Bailleul had stressed that the strategic orientation of Madagascar Airlines was to focus more on the domestic network, local media reported. He confided that during the high season, the company had set up several additional flights on the domestic network including Nosy Be, where it operated up to 11 weekly frequencies in August. A new sales platform has also been designed in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, it was also indicated in Prime Magazine for the month of October.
The Malagasy company is impatiently awaiting the arrival of the plane Embraer E190-E2. The acquisition of the Brazilian single-aisle aircraft had been mentioned as early as March 2022. Upon the arrival of Thierry de Bailleul, it was also revealed the signing of a contract relating to three Embraer 190-E2s the first of which was expected at the beginning of 2022, then June 2022, then September 2022. Still nothing today. The contract was concluded with the leasing company Azorra, for an aircraft that can accommodate up to 150 passengers and fly for 7 hours.
Let us nevertheless recall the last words of the Board of Directors of the new Madagascar Airlines in April 2023: “Thanks to these international recognition certifications, Madagascar Airlines will serve with confidence and pride the eight main national airports of the Big Island in addition to the regional and European lines already acquired. The Malagasy pavilion will fly in the coming months to reconquer Asia and ten new skies in the coming years”. There is still a way to go… The development plan (and therefore the future of the fleet, particularly long-haul, the return of international connections, notably to Paris or Marseille) still remains to be approved as the year approaches.presidential elections under high tension.
The outgoing president Andry Rajoelina, who is running again, is strongly criticized for his recently revealed French nationality (which is unconstitutional in this country) as well as suspicions of electoral corruption by the NGO Transparency International and a collective of ten candidates who are front by demanding the disqualification of Andry Rajoelina and the creation of a Special Electoral Court. The collective is also boycotting the presidential campaign, with one of them still hospitalized (injured in the eye) on Mauritius after a flash ball shot by the police.
