Air Austral and Air Madagascar sign strategic partnership agreement

Air Austral and Air Madagascar signed (09-Oct-2017) a strategic partnership agreement on 09-Oct-2017, formalising the terms and conditions of the acquisition of a 49% stake in Air Madagascar by Air Austral. Madagascar's Government will retain a 51% stake and appoint the airline's chairman, while Air Austral will propose a CEO. Air Austral will invest USD40 million in Air Madagascar and provide technical and operational expertise. The agreement triggers an interim phase of the implementation of the partnership, which will be concluded with a shareholder agreement scheduled to be signed at the end of Oct-2017. The partnership aims to make Air Madagascar a profitable and sustainable company providing competitive passenger and cargo services in domestic, regional and long haul markets. The parties also aim to improve the efficiency of Air Madagascar's subsidiaries. The transformation plan will be implemented in two phases over 10 years. The first phase of three years will focus on the recovery and restoration of business fundamentals. The second phase will concentrate on growth, including fleet development and new routes. The parties aim to improve services, strengthen business and administrative processes, develop systems and technology, strengthen human resources and management and develop new business partnerships with other companies. Recovery of the national carrier is expected to have a positive impact an all sectors of Madagascar's economy, particularly tourism. [more - original PR - French]