Where do things stand with the restructuring of Air Austral?
Jean-Marc Grazzini - In the restructuring plan drawn up a few months ago, the chosen option is for private investors from Réunion to acquire a stake in the company and will therefore be acquiring a stake in the company. At the same time, debt renegotiation with the French State continues. This debt is around 300 million euros. La restructuring of Air Austral provides forinjection of 55 million eurosThis includes 30 million from investors and 25 million from SEMATRA (which is made up of the Réunion Region, the Departmental Council and the CCIR). The business plan, which determines the company's future strategy, has not changed. It is due to be approved this October by the European Commission. Once validated, it will enable a new management team to be installed. The new management team will then be able to negotiate partnerships with other carriers. As a result, the proposed joint venture with Corsair, discarded a few months ago, could perhaps once again become an option.
Is this uncertainty likely to slow Air Austral's recovery?
Jean-Marc Grazzini - No, not at all. During the Covid crisis, Air Austral was on hand to provide territorial continuity with Paris. In this way, we have helped to support the region and connect the island to the rest of the world. With the complete reopening of the territory, we have regained our entire network. In May, we took over the Saint Denis-Chennai line [editor's note: Madras...then the Bangkok route from July. With two flights a week, this route is now served all year round due to strong demand. We are also back on the regional route, with numerous destinations including Madagascar, Mauritius and South Africa.
How does the traffic behave?
Jean-Marc Grazzini - We have a very high level of activity, particularly on regional routes. In September, our flights reached filling from 95% to 96%. And we have good visibility on revenues over the coming months. However, we are in a delicate period. We need to see how demand will react against a backdrop of high inflation. In the long term, this will inevitably mean higher ticket prices. Personally, I estimate it at around 10% to 15%. But there are many other factors that could affect this estimate.
What's new this winter on the Réunion-Metropolitan France route?
Jean-Marc Grazzini - We're setting up this winter a flight programme offering greater capacity than Covid's predecessor. This represents a 6% increase in supply to Paris. We therefore propose two daily flights to Paris CDG with all three cabin classes. From Paris, there are still opportunities to reach almost twenty cities in France as well as Brussels by train. The island of Mayotte is served by non-stop flights 5 times a week.
