A little more than two weeks after the passage of Cyclone Chido, Mayotte airport reopens to commercial flights from January 1. Until now, only military or state-chartered planes were authorized to serve Mayotte to deliver aid and personnel. But civilians will once again be able to go to the archipelago.
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To facilitate the reopening of the airport Mayottestate services had to bring the airport up to safety standards, starting with the control tower, which was badly damaged by the passage of the cyclone.
From this Wednesday, January 1, airspace control will be ensured by a mobile tower, a sort of elevated prefabricated facility made available by the Air Force.
Companies are returning to service
It was also necessary to secure the perimeter all around the airport, clear the runways, restore the markings and ensure a sufficient number of ground staff.
From this Wednesday, the five companies which operated before the cyclone will therefore be able to resume service. CorsAir and AirAustral have already announced that they will restart their connection with Reunion and mainland France from January 1. The other three, Kenya Airways, Ewa Air and Amelia should follow.
The general directorate of civil aviation nevertheless specifies that the resumption of commercial flights will be “ gradually “, so as not to disrupt at the same time the sending of aid and personnel to the archipelago, which is already around a hundred movements per day in the skies of Mayotte.
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