Air Mauritius to carry domestic passengers

27/9/01
The State Government has secured approval for Air Mauritius to carry domestic passengers between Perth and Melbourne following the collapse of Ansett.
Premier Geoff Gallop said the Perth-to-Melbourne and return service would be available next Wednesday (October 3) and would be subject to seat availability.
Dr Gallop said the Federal Government had granted approval for cabotage services to continue for the remainder of the year.
Seats would be available on the Perth-to-Melbourne flight and at least 100 would be available on the Melbourne-to-Perth service. Bookings could be made through most travel agents.
The Premier said the Government would be keen for the Air Mauritius service to continue and was holding talks with other international carriers in an effort to boost cabotage services.
"We are hopeful that those talks will lead to other international carriers being granted approval to fly domestic passengers to and from Western Australia," he said.
"This is part of the 10-point plan I announced last week in response to the collapse of Ansett.
"This is crucial for WA, because the number of seats available each way on the Perth-to-Sydney and Perth-to-Melbourne routes has fallen by 30 per cent.
"We still have a long way to go before capacity is restored but we are working hard to achieve that goal."
Media contact: Kieran Murphy 9222 9475