Air Austral and Corsair announced on August 17 the initiation of discussions “in order to conclude a commercial cooperation agreement” on the routes between the metropolis and the Indian Ocean., that they both operate. The content of this reconciliation is not specified : the two companies only mention “the pooling of resources and the implementation of synergies”, while preserving the “identity and independence” of each of them. The two companies are particularly impacted by the crisis. Air Austral is supported by its almost sole shareholder, the regional council, and benefited from the State guarantee for 86 million euros of loans. Corsair also obtained state support after being bought from the German groups Intro Aviation and TUI by a group of mainly private and West Indian shareholders., fin 2020. The announced merger, dictated by circumstances and undoubtedly encouraged by the State, will put an end to long years of rivalry between the two French pavilions. Corsair has repeatedly denounced the public support given to Air Austral, which has never looked favorably on the arrival of Corsair on the Mayotte service and on the Réunion-Madagascar link, abandoned after a few months under pressure from the Malagasy authorities. August 22, Huguette Bello deplored, in a letter addressed to the President of the Republic, “that state services (…) condition the mobilization of aid for a capital restructuring of Air Austral, which would result in the form of a holding company with the Corsair company”. “It thus appears that the economic difficulties which the Air Austral company is facing (…) are exploited to force her into a marriage with Corsair”, continued the president of the regional council. More than a month later, no concrete information on the nature of the merger had filtered out.
