Come fly with me

The people of Mauritius love to serve - and I don't mean they're subservient - just that they seem to take more pleasure than many other nationalities in making you feel at home.

They go the extra smile

Their national airline is no different - their cabin attendants greet you with a broad smile and a delightful accent that if you closed your eyes you might think you are a few thousand kilometres away in gay old Paris.

You are likely to find that when the co-pilot or captain comes on air over the PA, he (or she - we must be PC here) will have a distinctly South African accent, which takes you right back home, but when you get "Good morning sirr... Are you comfortable; can I get you anyzing?" you are back in Paris - or Mauritius, naturally.

Being of reasonable height even if a bit decrepit, I almost did a "Hail Mary" or two when I reached my seat and found that there was actually a gap... yes, a LARGE GAP... between my knobbly knees and the back of the seat in front of me.

I did a quick test... you know how every airline tells you before the flight how to take the brace position in, what they delightfully qualify with the adjective "unlikely event" of a prang - namely bend forward and kiss your knees goodbye, I discovered something on Air Mauritius...

Unlike on many other airlines where kissing your knees goodbye is a physical impossibility as you try - and end up slamming your head into the back of the seat in front of you... on Air Mauritius I could actually do the "emergency bend". Well, I would have, except my somewhat ample bop prevented it - but at least I could get a close look at my knees without bruising my forehead.

So, even though travelling economy, I could therefore stretch out a bit.

So what did he say?

To paraphrase Miss Piggy from the Muppets, I did have one "teensie weensie" problem with my flight... I was watching The King's Speech and had just reached the spot towards the end of the movie when he was about to make his first radio broadcast... And the cabin attendants came around and collected the earphones - we were still about half an hour or so out of Mauritius.
Now, as I happen to be a bit of a history buff - having been around long enough to have been on nodding terms with some of history's main players, well in my dreams - or nightmares, anyway - I knew a bit about the broadcast in question. However, trying to lip-read was a bit of a failure, since Colin Firth played the part brilliantly (and got an Oscar for his efforts), complete with pregnant pauses and the necessary facial expressions and quivering lip movements. Hence, whatever the king was actually saying I could not make out - for all I knew he could have been ordering in KFC for the family. ("That will be a family bucket for may waif and aye, and a Zinger each for the princesses. No, I don't carry money... the equerry will pay you.")

The Businessclass seating - very comfy.

So all I am asking next time I fly with Air Mauritius - and there will be a next time - is please, pretty please, leave the earphone collection for a little later, if possible. Thank you. (Of course, had I actually got my act together as Firth did, I would have started watching sooner, and seen the whole movie through - so perhaps the neddie I should be blaming is the coffin dodger I see in the mirror.)

What's that you say about airline food?

Now I know that the popularity of airline food is generally up there with service delivery and Joburg billing, and while I am no food buff - despite appearances to the contrary i.e. my bop - I thought the meals on Air Mauritius were very, very good. What's more, aficionados far better clued up to the quality of airline food than I am, agreed with me.

And as always, it was served with a beautiful smile complemented by a beautiful accent.

All in all, we had an enjoyable couple of flights to and from Mauritius.

So, the question is: Would I fly Air Mauritius again?

In a heartbeat!