Air Mauritius Review Economy Mauritius (MRU) to Antananarivo (TNR) A340 plus Air Mauritius Business Class lounge

My last time on Air Mauritius was back during the 90's heydays when half of Europe would drop by Mauritius for a few days. The A340 for this flight was as old as the late 1990's though.

The Mauritius airport is a very efficient affair and it reminded me of the Noumea airport where everyone is friendly and the security is handled so well. There is no drama and everyone acts like an 'educated person' instead of like miserable security agents, yelling at you for leaving a water bottle behind. Security and immigration processes only took five minutes and that was a pleasant affair.



The Air Mauritius Business Class (Amedee Maingard) lounge is used by a number of airlines and is open to Lounge Key and Priority Pass members. I wasn't expecting much, but the lounge runs the SAME service for all guests on two huge levels with plenty of seating.






















The lounge is enormous (even though the lower level was not open). There is a children's play area that is bigger than an entire lounge at many other Priority Pass lounges. The lunch spread was excellent with servings of pasta, mini chicken burgers, lamb curry, and several dessert options. The food tasted fresh and well spiced - something very few lounges are able to pull off.























There is a full bar with several different wines, mixed drinks, and good champagne. The WiFi was rather fast and there were a number of seats with electrical outlets. The service was friendly yet attentive with no 'lounge police' like I often face when taking pictures. This is certainly a contender for the best 'Priority Pass Lounge' in the world in my book.

The Mauritius airport is just so relaxed despite a number of wide body aircraft coming n during teh afternoon (South African, British Airways, Saudia and Emirates).

Boarding was uneventful and somewhat on time. The gate agents separated the line nicely between Elite Members, seats further back and the forward Economy cabin. The huge A340 was clearly had seen better days. It was quite rickety was many seat-backs leaning when they shouldn't - most IFE screens broken or dysfunctional. However it was clean and since only about 70% full quite spacious with an enormous seat pitch. I had a two seater on the right with the 2-4-2 configuration to myself and had ample space.
























The whole cabin layout and design reminded me much of Air Tahiti Nui Economy Cabin (Review) - another French inspired island. There was a snack service during the flight but the food wasn't too much liking (I was still full from the excellent food at the Air Mauritius Business Class lounge).



Instead of handing out immigration forms - Madagascar has a little passport that contains plenty of tourist information. What a nice touch!









Air Mauritius fares to neighboring islands are high (so is Air Madagascar) but you get a quality product for this. No wonder it reminded me of Air Noumea (Review).

Immigration in Antananarivo was crowded and there were long lines for the ATM and SIM cards but it eventually worked itself out.