Air Seychelles aircraft grounded at France's Charles de Gaulle; passengers to be re-rerouted
Tourism |Author: Betymie Bonnelame and Sharon Uranie | December 6, 2016, Tuesday @ 12:23| 9500 views
File Photo of an Air Seychelles Airbus parked at Charles de Gaulle airport on its inaugural flight to the French capital on July 2, 2014 after a two-and-a-half year absence. (Mervyn Marie, Seychelles News Agency)
(Seychelles News Agency) - An aircraft with the country’s national carrier, Air Seychelles, has been grounded at the Charles de Gaulle airport in France’s capital, Paris, after it sustained damage during ground handling, a statement from the airline said Tuesday.
Speaking to SNA via email, a spokesperson of the airline said, “The aircraft sustained damage to the outer skin of the fuselage near the front (1L) passenger door.”
The statement said the aircraft -- an Airbus A330-200 -- sustained damage Monday during the placement of the staircase for passenger disembarkation at Charles de Gaulle, one of Paris' two major international airports.
As a result, some scheduled Air Seychelles flights have been cancelled, including the flight from Paris to Seychelles, flight HM887 departing from Seychelles to Beijing on December 6 and flight HM888 from Beijing to Seychelles on December 7.
According to the statement, all passengers will be re-accommodated on the quickest possible connections to reach their final destinations. Travelers with questions are asked to contact the Air Seychelles ground handling staff or the Call Center at +248 439 1000 (for calls from Seychelles) or +33 (0) 974755010 (for calls from France).
The Air Seychelles spokesperson told SNA that: “An engineering team is on its way and parts have been dispatched as well. Engineering advised that repairs will take an estimated 24-36 hours, subject to approval from Airbus, who have also been providing off-site engineering support.”
The aircraft will remain grounded until it is declared fully operational.
The Seychelles national airline, Air Seychelles, resumed non-stop flights to Paris, in July last year, with the company’s Airbus A330-200.
France is the top leading market for 2016 sending a total of around 40,000 visitors so far to Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean. Tourism is the primary contributor to the island nation’s economy.