Jean Philippe de Ravel represents South African Airways in Mauritius.
After a fine career that has taken him from Hong Kong to Paris and included a number of jobs in various countries in Africa, Jean Philippe de Ravel has returned home to Mauritius to take up the task of representing South African Airways. Too young to have lived through the early years of the relationship between the airline and Rogers, dating back to 1948, he has nonetheless sufficient experience to be able to comment on the performance of the GSA over the years. From a simple service arrangement until 2000, our Mauritian partner has since become a respected service provider recognised, chosen for its ability to meet the current requirements of the airline. Our relationship,” he explains, “doesn’t rest on the early agreements as they have been revisited. The choice of Rogers is based on its ability to meet the specifications set out in the tender procedures, the next of which is scheduled for 2012. “The situation has considerably evolved over recent decades,” Jean Phillippe goes on. “At one time, technical stopovers had to be made in Mauritius because of the embargoes in place against the apartheid regime. Then there was the rise in fuel costs and the creation of Johannesburg as a hub. Nowadays, traffic is determined by financial factors, linked to the business relations established between companies in the two countries. Added to that is the fact that a significant number of South African nationals have chosen to live in Mauritius or to buy a second home here, with a subsequent rise in travel. There is also a new category of South Africans who can afford to travel abroad, in particular to islands in the Indian Ocean, where beach resorts are very popular”. South African Airways uses Rogers Aviation to handle passengers who want to travel from the Seychelles and Mauritius to Mandela’s homeland. For the moment, things seem to be going well because, as the Port Louis representative of Africa’s most important airlines says, “For the last decade, the number of passengers carried has gone on rising at a rate of 5 to 7% a year, with 8 return flights a week and aircraft flying with average cabin occupancy at 72%”.
