Increased connectivity envisaged as Air Seychelles readies to take delivery of new Airbus in december

One of Air Seychelles A330-200 aircraft (Patrick Valmont, Air Seychelles)

(Seychelles News Agency) - The national airline, Air Seychelles, has announced that it will be in a position to make significant changes in its international flight schedule in the beginning of December as it takes delivery of another Airbus.

In a press statement issued this afternoon, the airline said it will be taking delivery of its first Airbus A320 in December.

This will add to its existing international fleet of two A330-200 aircraft.

With the new addition Air Seychelles says it will as of December 1, 2014 be able to increase its weekly frequencies between Seychelles and Abu Dhabi, have more capacity on flights to Mauritius, and revise its schedules for routes to and from Johannesburg, Mauritius, and Paris, something the airline’s Chief Executive, Manoj Papa has said will take Air Seychelles to the next level.

“The addition of a two-cabin Airbus A320 aircraft to our fleet, configured with 16 seats in Business Class and 120 in Economy Class, forms an essential component of our plan to establish Air Seychelles as the carrier of choice in the Indian Ocean region,” said Papa in the statement.

“The aircraft, a wet lease from partner Etihad Airways, will allow Air Seychelles to extend the depth and breadth of its network, increase its regional brand presence, and crucially deliver more revenue which will be used to further develop Air Seychelles’ expanding services.”

The changes to be expected as of December will see Mauritius services move to a morning departure from Seychelles, operating on Monday, Friday and Saturday, with the Saturday service flown by the island carrier’s Airbus A330-200 aircraft, providing 29 per cent more seat capacity.

Paris services operated by Air Seychelles’ Airbus A330-200 wide-body aircraft will depart Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on Wednesday and Saturday respectively, arriving in Seychelles Thursday and Sunday.  Similarly, flights to Paris will depart Seychelles on Tuesday and Friday, arriving in Paris the following day.

Air Seychelles returned to Paris at the beginning of this month after a two year absence.

In the region, there will be three weekly service to Johannesburg on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, as well as a new weekend option.

Air Seychelles’ services between Abu Dhabi and Seychelles will also see an increase from 14 to 18 flights per week, while the national airline’s strategic partner, UAE’s Etihad Airways will continue to operate three return services per week on the same route, offering customers a choice of 24 weekly flights between Seychelles and Abu Dhabi.

“Subject to regulatory approvals and beyond confirmed schedule updates and frequency enhancements, additional route announcements are planned in the coming months, so that by the end of 2014 our brightly-coloured aircraft will be seen at many more destinations,” said Papa.

The Air Seychelles CEO is confident that these new developments will help “cement Air Seychelles’ successful turnaround strategy, increase and secure inbound tourism flows to Seychelles, and economically, be hugely positive in terms of facilitating more trade across our network.”

“Our international network continues to perform well and with these additional flights, we look forward to increasing connectivity to key markets important for Seychelles tourism – in Asia such as Beijing, Chennai, Delhi, Riyadh, and Tokyo, as well as in traditional and emerging European markets including Rome, Moscow and Paris.”

Air Seychelles was established in 1977 as Seychelles Airlines and adopted the present title in September 1978. The airline was wholly owned by the Seychelles government until January 2012 when UAE's Etihad. Airways bought a 40 percent share of Air Seychelles leaving the Seychelles government with the remaining 60 percent ownership.