The Reunion company has changed hands. October 18, ten days after accepting the resignation of Joseph Bréma, the supervisory board of Air Austral has appointed Hugues Marchessaux as chairman of the management board.
Graduate of Essec, aged 57, he held management positions at Corsair, Air France, Bolloré Transports and Logistics, director and member of the executive committee at ASL and of the Air Cargo committee at CMA-CGM, company he helped create in 2022. In his previous position, he was general director and responsible executive at Air Caraibes Atlantique, the long-haul branch of the Dubreuil group company. Hugues Marchessaux's mission is to turn the company around, what his predecessor failed to do. Despite a sharp increase in turnover in 2023-2024, at 440 million euros, Air Austral is still losing a lot of money. The closure of some unprofitable lines, decided at the beginning of the year, and the collective performance agreement accepted by staff to reduce the payroll should make it possible to reduce an operating deficit, the amount of which at the end of the last financial year has not been made public. The company will also remain penalized until mid-2025 by the failures of the engines that equip its A220 medium-haul aircraft and ground one of its three aircraft.. The shareholders agreed to recapitalize the company to the tune of 15 million euros to enable it to pass the annual cash flow low point., early next year.
