New Route of the Day (15 October 2021): Air Belgium between Brussels BRU and Mauritius

Air Belgium launched its first service from Brussels BRU on Friday 15 October. The local carrier began 2-weekly service on the 9,460-kilometre route to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. The airline is using its brand new 286-seat Airbus A330-900neo, registration OO-ABG, on the route, which also operates from Brussels on a Tuesday.

Flight KF 2301 departed Brussels at 21:57 and touched down in Mauritius 11 hours and eight minutes later at 11:06 local time the following day. The return flight (KF 2302) departed Mauritius at 22:21 and arrived back in Belgium at 07:34 on the morning of Sunday 17 October. Brussels last welcomed non-stop flights to Mauritius in April 2004, when Air Mauritius offered a weekly service using a mix of 767-200s and A340-300s.

Mauritius has been gradually reopening its borders. Emirates resumed flights from Dubai in mid-July while Air Mauritius resumed service to Delhi. Many more services resumed in early October. According to Cirium Data and Analytics schedule information for w/c 18 October 2021, non-stop services from Europe are now being offered by the following European carriers:

• Air Belgium from Brussels BRU (2-weekly)
• Air France from Paris CDG (3-weekly)
• Austrian Airlines from Vienna (weekly)
• British Airways from London LGW (6-weekly)
• Condor from Frankfurt (3-weekly)
• Corsair from Paris ORY (2-weekly)
• Edelweiss from Zurich (3-weekly)
• Eurowings Discover from Frankfurt (2-weekly)
• Turkish Airlines from Istanbul IST (3-weekly)

In addition, British Airways is set to resume service to Mauritius, after an absence of a decade, from London LHR on 3 November with a 3-weekly service operated by its 787-9s.

Also serves Caribbean from Brussels CRL

Air Belgium continues to offer service to the Caribbean destinations of Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe) and Fort-de-France (Martinique) from Brussels CRL using its two 265-seat A340-300s. Both these routes are set to be served 2-weekly during the winter season, starting from the beginning of December, according to the airline’s website booking tool.

Having now launched its first route from Brussels BRU, Air Belgium is planning to add two more destinations before the end of the year. It is planning to start service to both Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and Curaçao from 15 December, with the aircraft routing Brussels-Punta Cana-Curaçao-Brussels. Flights will depart the Belgian capital on Wednesdays and Saturdays.