Air Seychelles to suspend Düsseldorf flights, reduce Paris operation in September

The new Airbus A330, named ‘Vallée de Mai’ making the twice-weekly flights to Düsseldorf in Germany since March this year. (Patrick Joubert, Seychelles News Agency)

(Seychelles News Agency) - Air Seychelles is suspending its flights to Düsseldorf, Germany and reducing its Paris operation beginning in September, a statement from the airline said.

The Seychelles' national carrier said that the move is part of its adjustment for the European route network.

The twice-weekly flights with Air Seychelles' new Airbus to Düsseldorf which started in March this year will stop service on September 10.

“We have made the difficult decision to suspend flying to Düsseldorf after an in-depth review of the route showed that the service is unsustainable,” said Roy Kinnear, chief executive of Air Seychelles.

He said that it is not viable for the airline to continue serving the market at this point as the seasonal nature of the route is outweighed by low demand during the off-peak season.

“In addition, the volume of connecting traffic from our partner airlines over Düsseldorf has not lived up to expectations, making it harder to sustain the necessary passenger loads to meet our commercial objectives,” said Kinnear.

The chief executive said that “Germany is an important tourism market for Seychelles and we will continue to work with our codeshare partners to offer excellent one-stop connections via Paris with Air France and via Abu Dhabi with Etihad Airways.”

Air Seychelles flights to and from Paris will be reduced from four to thrice-weekly starting September 12.

“While passenger numbers are strong during the summer months of July and August, the declining demand as we enter the off-peak season in September does not provide the required level of support for our fourth frequency going forward, which operates mid-week on Tuesdays/Wednesdays," Kinnear said.

The Paris route will continue to be operated with a two-class Airbus A330-200 aircraft, with flights on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays out of Seychelles and on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays out of Paris.

Jean Weeling-Lee, the chairperson of Air Seychelles, said that a year-on-year increase in fuel costs, a highly competitive aviation market in Europe, and the high number of significant airlines already serving Seychelles, results in Air Seychelles being forced to consolidate these services.

All guests who are affected by the service changes will be offered alternative travel arrangements with Air Seychelles.

Earlier in July Air Seychelles announced that it is stopping its flights to Durban, South Africa as of July 27. The twice-per-week flights were cancelled because the volume of inbound traffic fell short of the airline's  expectations,