Mauritius Says $300m Airport Upgrade on Course

Prime minister Navin Ramgoolam's office said that 70 per cent of the work had now been completed.

The new terminal sits on 14 acres and is located next to terminal one.

"We definitely made the right choice in our partners namely Airport Terminal Operations Ltd (ATOL) and China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd who have ensured smooth project management and implementation,” said Mr Ramgoolam in a statement.

"Modern, spacious and welcoming ambience are the key factors to the project success with, among others, additional check-in counters, departure gates, and loading bridges to cater for current traffic as well as projected traffic growth in line with the government's aspirations to welcome two million tourists by 2015," added the premier.

The island is known for its high net worth tourism.

The contractor is expected to hand over the new building by December. It would be operational by April 2013 after analysis and simulations of ground operation certifications and safety and security checks that comply with international benchmarks.

ATOL is a joint venture between Airports of Mauritius (AML) and French group Aeroports de Paris Management.

Currently 20 airlines operate to 38 destinations globally via the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (previously the Plaisance Airport), and these figures are set to rise as the national carrier Air Mauritius has recently been extending its services to the Asian market notably, China and traditional markets France via codeshare agreements.

In 2011, 2.2 million passengers transited through the airport, with over 19,000 aircraft movements, and 950,000 arrivals.

The current forecast is that the airport will handle around 4.5 million passengers a year.