Air Mauritius hires IBM and KPMG to overhaul technology operations

Air Mauritius has hired IBM and KPMG to overhaul the national airliner’s enterprise planning processes and data analytics capability with a range of cloud and analytics technologies. Through the deal the airliner hopes to enable its long-term growth ambitions.

Air Mauritius, the national airliner of the African island nation of Mauritius, is the fourth largest in Africa. The airline carrier was established in 1967, and today transports around 1.5 million passengers and move 30,000 tons of cargo annually. Air Mauritius, which employs around 3,000 people, operates out of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport and serves 24 regional and international destinations.

In a bid to support the airliner's long term growth trajectory with modern technological development, Air Mauritius recently launched a technology transformation programme aimed at revamping its main architecture. As part of the changes, the airliner has hired IBM and KPMG to provide a range of consultancy services in the area of cloud and analytics. With the move, Air Mauritius says it expects to improve budgeting cycles, decrease turnaround time for processing data and boost its capacity to uncover predictive insights directly from data to enhance customer experience.

The deal, the value of which has not been disclosed, has been agreed for five years.

According to the implementation partners, the programme will allow the airline to overhaul its enterprise planning processes using the statistical analysis and powerful visualisations of IBM’s Watson Analytics, while leveraging the implementation expertise of KPMG. The transition will also harmonise Air Mauritius’ data management infrastructure, providing a single platform to accommodate past, current and future data for business analysis with the same level of granularity.

The changes will allow Air Mauritius to benefit from enhanced operational efficiencies and improved service delivery for customer enquiries and flight bookings, through better analytical insights. The airliner will further be able to use an integrated environment for critical, real-time scenario planning and performance management.

Reflecting on IBM's support, Jananda Moothoo, Country General Manager of IBM Mauritius, says, “We are witnessing increased competition across the aviation industry to improve organisational efficiency and enhance customer experience by adopting the latest technologies. IBM’s cloud and analytics technology will help Air Mauritius to improve efficiencies and accelerate growth and global relevance.”