200 passengers stranded in Reunion after the cancellation of two flights connecting Antananarivo
An Air Austral plane at Roland-Garros airport in Réunion in Sainte-Marie.
(photo illustration) AFP - RICHARD BOUHET
Text by: RFI Follow
4 mins
This weekend, the two flights operated by Air Austral linking Reunion Island to the Malagasy capital Antananarivo were canceled.
Nearly 200 passengers therefore find themselves stranded on the French island, without anyone being able to tell them when their flight will be rescheduled.
On both sides of the Indian Ocean, people are trying to explain the chaotic situation, passing the blame on to each other.
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With our correspondent in Antananarivo
,
Sarah Tétaud
Operated by the airline Air Austral, two flights were to reach Antananarivo from
Reunion
.
They were both deleted less than 24 hours before takeoff.
“
We have absolutely no information on when we will be able to return
,
”
laments a French resident in
Madagascar
.
She was supposed to return to the Big Island on Sunday, but the day before, an email from Air Austral told her that her flight was cancelled.
“
We don't have a plan B like it would be the case in many other places in the world, where we could take a train, hitchhike,
she continues.
There, we can't.
We have to go from one island to another, and when the only airline available does not operate, we are stranded.
»
According to this traveler, “
the only thing we know is that the flight was canceled because the Malagasy authorities did not authorize the company to land.
And other than that, it's radio silence.
Nothing about possible compensation.
So all of this is obviously very upsetting.
»
Divergent versions
The order to prohibit these two flights was given by the Civil Aviation of Madagascar.
For its managing director, Gérard Rabetokotany, this decision is the simple application of the bilateral air agreement between France and Madagascar.
“
Malagasy Civil Aviation granted [Air Austral] five Reunion-Tana frequencies.
They were also granted frequencies on Nosy Be,
he explains.
In addition to this, they were also granted additional flights, provided that the occupancy rate of 44% is reached, to avoid unfair competition with Tsaradia, the Malagasy airline.
»
According to Gérard Rabetokotany, «
this weekend, the 44% were not reached.
Reason why we refused the service to Tana.
»
When questioned, the company Air Austral refutes the information and specifies that “
no clause mentioning minimum filling rates appears in the existing aeronautical agreements governing the air links between the two territories
”.
🔴 The announcement of AIR AUSTRAL's weekend flight cancellations caused a stir in the Malagasy tourism community, news that does not please operators given that the sector is barely recovering from the health crisis. #CTM #madagascar #tourism pic.twitter.com/IDWhGZUeLw
— Madagascar Tourism Confederation (@ConfederationT) December 4, 2022
The French company also deplores a situation which it describes as a "
vicious circle
": "
Having no certainty that the weekend flights will be maintained, and this, until the last moment, we are obliged to suspend sales a few days before, in order to limit the impact in the event of a sudden cancellation.
The average capacity of these flights is therefore not linked to travel demand, but to the constraint of not being able to carry out the flight in the event of refusal of authorization by the Malagasy civil aviation
.
»
A supplement of 50 euros per traveler
Finally, this weekend, in parallel with this flight authorization affair, French media revealed that Air Madagascar, the national Malagasy company, in great financial difficulty for more than a decade and
placed in receivership there a year
ago, would have asked to donate 50 euros per passenger traveling on board flights operated by Air Austral as well as to the Mahoran company Ewa.
A request described as "
blackmail
" by Internet users, on social networks, and rejected by the two carriers.
Contacted, the Malagasy Minister of Transport confirmed this information, saying that it was a common practice in the field of air transport and that there was therefore nothing abnormal.
“
If a company does not use its traffic right, as is currently the case for Tsaradia, it can offer it to another in exchange for financial compensation
.
»
As for the passengers stranded on Bourbon Island, the returns seem for the moment to be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
A request for an additional flight could also be considered.
Provided, of course, say the Malagasy authorities, "
that there are enough passengers on the plane
".
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