First of all, excuse the poor image quality… The airways history in Mauritius might not mention this event, but the first plane to reach Rodrigues island was on the 14th of July 1972. The Cessna airplane of Paul Lemerle from Reunion Island had to be used due to an urgent medical situation to bring back someone who was ill.
Only two months later than the official commercial flight between Mauritius and Rodrigues was inaugurated and linked by the Piper Navajo airplane on the 13th September 1972.