Air Mauritius on Thursday posted a pretax loss for its first quarter of EUR11.1 million versus a loss of EUR11.3 million loss a year earlier, and blamed low season and high fuel prices.

The airline said the number of passengers ticked up by 3.1 percent to a new record of 272,359, while cargo traffic grew by 0.5 percent to 7,972 tonnes in the quarter to the end of June, but higher costs of fuel eroded the company's earnings.

Loss per share was unchanged at EUR0.11, the airline said.

The airline warned that the highly volatile fuel prices could affect its full-year earnings.

Mauritius is a popular holiday destination, but the fragile European economic situation and the weak euro has hit the airline and the island's tourism industry hard.