STAMP ISSUES RELATED TO THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY

 

Mauritius - 75th Anniversary of ICAO

 

Issue date: 07/12/2019

 

 

The stamp depicts an aircraft on the tarmac of the prior airport and the new passenger terminal at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport inaugurated on 30 August 2013; its structure was designed after the tropical "Traveller's palm" (Ravenala madagascariensis), a genus of flowering plants.

ICAO emblem is in upper-right corner.

Stamp size: 45 x 30 mm. Number of stamps per sheet: Two panes of 25.

 

Upper strip of the full sheet.

 

Gutter with 10 stamps.

 

Lower strip of the full sheet.

 

Official First Day Cover (Front and back). New terminal at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport. In the background (upper-right corner), is a picture of the old terminal at the Plaisance Airport. i.e. the previous name of the airport, built in 1987. ICAO emblem at the lower-right.

 

 

Insert (Front and back).

 

 

Background: For information, Mauritius previously participated in the commemoration of the 50th anniversary by issuing one stamp. Click on the hyperlink to view this issue.

Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport is the main international airport in Mauritius. It is located 26 nautical miles (48 km) southeast of the capital city of Port Louis. The airport was previously known as the Plaisance Airport and has direct flights to several destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe and is home to the country's national airline Air Mauritius.

The story of the airport goes back to 1942, when Mauritius was a colony of the crown of England; the government had decided to build a small airport at Plaine Magnien near the village of Mahébourg. Over the years, work has been undertaken on the site in Plaisance. In 1986, Plaisance Airport, as it was called at the time, made further work to accommodate larger aircraft. Thus, a new terminal was built including telescopic walkways to meet the expected increase in traffic growth as well as a parking lot attached to this new building and a customs service for international connections. The new terminal consisted of two floors and could accommodate up to four aircraft simultaneously. Later, in 1987, the airport was renamed Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, after the name of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam (1900-1985), who was a Mauritian politician, statesman and philanthropist. He was a leader in the Mauritian independence movement, and served as the first Chief Minister and Prime Minister of Mauritius, as well as its Governor-General. He was the Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity from 1976 to 1977. As the leader of the Labour Party, Ramgoolam fought for the rights of labourers and led Mauritius to independence in 1968.

The new terminal is in line with the "Maurice Ile Durable" concept. Environmental and ecological aspects taken into consideration include using solar energy collected by photovoltaic cells, recovering rain water, integrating nature to the heart of the building, and including thermo-insulated facades to reduce heat gain.

Other aerial views of the new airport can be found here-after:

 

 

Below is a summary on the aviation history in Mauritius since its start and the rapid evolution which occurred for the benefits of mankind in their quest to travel abroad:

1.     The first successful flight of a powered controlled and sustained flying machine was done by Orville and Wilbur Wright on 17 December 1903.

2.     On 2 June 1922, the ­first aircraft was flown over Mauritius from Gymkhana ground at Vacoas.

3.     On 10 September 1933, the fi­rst aircraft landed in Mauritius.

4.     In 1936, the ­first international flight to Mauritius took ten days from Paris with stop-overs in Tunisia, Egypt, Djibouti and Madagascar.

5.     In 1942, an airport was built for the Royal Air Force at Plaisance.

6.     On 24 November 1943, the ­first aircraft to land at Plaisance airport was a Dakota from the Royal Air Force.

 

As regards commercial f­lights in Mauritius, the following is to be highlighted:

1.     On 10 February 1945, the first commercial flight started with a weekly flight from Madagascar to Mauritius via Reunion by the Réseau des Lignes Aériennes Françaises which became Air France using Junkers 52 aircrafts capable of carrying 15 passengers and a crew of 3.

2.     In 1946, the R.A.F handed over the Plaisance airport to the Mauritian authorities.

3.     Within the new framework, the following flights occurred towards Mauritius:

a.    In 1947, the first flight from Paris;

b.    In 1948, the first ­flight from Australia by Qantas; and

c.    In 1962, the first ­flight from London was operated by BOAC.

4.     On 14 June 1967, Air Mauritius started operating as a ground handling agent for other airlines.

5.     In 1972, the first Air Mauritius ­flights were operated to nearby Reunion Island and Rodrigues. One year later in 1973, Air Mauritius started a Mauritius/London fl­ight via Nairobi.

6.     Presently, Air Mauritius is operating direct fl­ights with 13 aircrafts to over 23 destinations.

7.     A new airport terminal was constructed in 1987 and later a new building was erected in 2013 to accommodate the increasing number of passengers.

8.     It is interesting to note that the number of passengers grew from 15,000 in 1968 to over 3 million in 2018.

9.     Around 200 private jets also land at the airport in Mauritius every year.