Reunion-based Air Austral and Air Madagascar will on February 12, 2017 commence a joint codeshared flight from both Antananarivo and St. Denis to Guangzhou in China which will operate twice a week, leaving the islands every Wednesday and Sunday and returning the following day – Thursday and Monday.
Originating in the capital of Madagascar and operated by Air Madagascar with an Airbus A340-300, the service will stop over on Reunion Island, a French Indian Ocean territory, before proceeding to Guangzhou and then returning the same way.
The two airlines will reportedly share the seat capacity on the 275-seater Airbus.
Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton, is the third largest city in China after capital Beijing and Shanghai and is expected to yield enough passengers to make the operation viable for the two partner airlines.
Reunion, though part of France, operates with a special visa regime for Chinese tourists – the same also applies to tourists from India and South Africa – which amounts to a visa waiver as long as the journey is booked through designated travel agents and in the form of a package holiday. As a result, Chinese visitor arrivals to Reunion have soared over the past two years.
Sales for the flights have opened and bookings can be done through a number of global CRS.
