Reply: I wish to inform the House that Air Mauritius Ltd started its operations to London Heathrow Airport in 1973 and still holds three historical slots thereat. On 17 March 2023, the Company issued a communiqué announcing that as from 28 October 2023, Air Mauritius Ltd would move its operations from London Heathrow Airport to London Gatwick Airport with daily operations. In regard to part (a) of the question, I am advised that the then Board of Directors of Air Mauritius Ltd presided by Mr Marday Venketasamy, including inter alia – 1) Mr Nayen Koomar Ballah; 2) Mrs Ammanah Ragavoodoo; 3) Mr Ken Arian; 4) Mr Jitendra Nathsingh Bissessur; 5) Mr Azim Fakhruddin Currimjee; 6) Mr Surendra Teeluck; 7) Mr Philippe E.G. Maxime Sauzier, and

127 8) Mr Arvind Bundhun. approved the proposal of the then Management which comprised – (i) Mr Krêsimir Kûcko, Chief Executive Officer; (ii) Mr Indradev (Raja) Buton, Chief Operations Officer, and (iii) Mr Laurent Recoura, Chief Commercial Officer. to shift Air Mauritius London operations from Heathrow to Gatwick. This decision was based on the following considerations – (i) CAPA Consulting, which was commissioned by Air Mauritius Ltd in February 2019 to undertake business reviews, had consistently recommended Air Mauritius Ltd to shift the London operations from London Heathrow Airport to London Gatwick Airport to support long term growth; (ii) the scope of growth at London Heathrow Airport was constrained as Air Mauritius Ltd held only three pairs of slots at London Heathrow Airport, without the possibility of obtaining additional ones, thereby restraining its operations to three weekly flights to London Heathrow Airport; (iii) there was no interest from UK airlines based at London Heathrow Airport to conclude any commercial arrangement with Air Mauritius Ltd, thus preventing seamless connections to and from domestic UK airports and other European destinations; (iv) airport charges and passenger service fees were lower at London Gatwick compared to London Heathrow. Furthermore, London Heathrow Airport had announced further increases in charges as from 2024; (v) the move allegedly enabled Air Mauritius to provide daily flights to London Gatwick Airport instead of three weekly flights to London Heathrow, thereby enhancing travel and trade at large, and more specifically in support to the tourism industry, and (vi) the relocation facilitated the conclusion in November 2023 of a commercial arrangement between Air Mauritius and EasyJet Airline, whose main hub is at London Gatwick Airport, from where EasyJet provides two-way connections across the UK and a huge intra-Europe network.

128 The House may wish to know that during the period 27 June 2018 to 17 March 2020, a sum of USD 928,997, approximately Rs36.2 million was paid to CAPA Consulting by Air Mauritius Ltd. I am informed that before the final decision was taken to move the operations from London Heathrow Airport to London Gatwick Airport, a presentation was made to the then Prime Minister in February 2023, following which the decision was taken by the then Board of Air Mauritius Ltd to move its operations to London Gatwick Airport in 2023. With regard to part (b)(i) of the question, I wish to inform the House that from October 2023 to March 2024 Air Mauritius Ltd registered a loss of around Rs920 million for operating to London Gatwick Airport. Furthermore, for the Financial Year 2024-2025, a financial loss amounting to approximately Rs1.7 billion was registered for operating to London Gatwick Airport. Therefore, over a period of 17 months, that is, from October 2023 to March 2025, a loss of approximately Rs2.6 billion was incurred by Air Mauritius Ltd. In view of the losses incurred on the Mauritius-London Gatwick route with daily flights, Air Mauritius has implemented a series of corrective measures, including a reduction in the London Gatwick operations from seven weekly flights to five weekly flights as from May 2025. Concerning part (b)(ii) of the question, I am given to understand that the three London Heathrow slots have been leased to Qatar Airways for an annual fee of USD 881,000 i.e. about Rs41,407,000. As regards part (c) of the question, I wish to apprise the House that, as soon as I became Prime Minister, I informed the new Management of Air Mauritius Ltd that we must resume our flights to Heathrow. Accordingly, the Company is exploring all avenues for reverting to London Heathrow Airport. However, it seems that flights to London Heathrow cannot be effected before April 2027 in view of the undertakings contained in the London Heathrow slots Lease Agreement. We will pursue all avenues for Air Mauritius to revert to Heathrow at the earliest. MR M.R. – ARRIVALS IN MAURITIUS – ASSETS ACQUISITION – BOARD OF INQUIRY