The two aircraft giants have launched a charm offensive on the government. Boeing and Airbus are fighting to obtain the Air Mauritius contract worth some Rs 8 billion. The national airline company is considering the replacement of its two 16-year old Boeing 767s. The decision will be made by September but both companies have already started their propaganda campaigns.

?We have the right product solution for Mauritius?, declared Boeing executive vice-president, Laurette Koellner, in a press conference during her visit last week. The B777-300ER is said to be the greatest innovation and the biggest of the B777 range. ?It is be the most efficient, the most economic and the least polluting?. She added that her company is indeed able to meet the needs of their customer, Air Mauritius. Although she admitted that they have taken advantage of the trip to meet their business partners and would evidently like to replace the Boeings, the executive vice-president said the main goal of the visit was industrial participation to help the country.

The Prime Minister, Paul Bérenger, made it clear that Air Mauritius has not made a definite choice yet. But the decision will be mainly based on technical and technological characteristics. There are however two schools of thought and the bias of Air Mauritius or the government towards one company or the other might also tip the balance. Air Mauritius will however have to make the best decision for itself and for the country.

?Families of aircraft?

Both companies actually have the backing of their governments. The American embassy made it clear that Washington is backing the Seattle aircraft firm. It seems it is the same for Airbus, which has strong support from Paris. The Prime Minister, who visited Airbus a few weeks ago, said he was as impressed by Airbus as he was by Boeing. He made sure to congratulate both companies equally for their products.

Presently, Airbus seems to have a lead on Boeing. For the first time in history, the European company overtook the Americans in 2003. Airbus was the leader of the aircraft industry in 2003 with 52% of the market shares. Air Mauritius has seven airplanes from Airbus against two Boeings, the ones that need replacing.

The CEO of Airbus says it owe its success to a strategy, that of establishing ?families of aircraft? with the same cockpit, technical aspects, systems on board, flight characteristics and which can be piloted by the same team. The models that could compete with the B777 are the A340-300, the A340-300E and the A330-200.

Boeing looks thus less profitable for Air Mauritius, particularly concerning crew training. This is exactly what the American company is offering the government: training programs. Could it be a coincidence?