‘More flights to Seychelles great boost for business’ |04 November 2014

The Seychelles International Airport is expected to become busier with an increase in international flight movements.

This remarkable increase has been made possible through several accords signed by the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) and its counterparts in other countries to ensure that Seychelles is more than ever connected to the rest of the world.

Most airlines flying to and from Seychelles are to increase their flights schedule during the winter season which runs from October 26 this year to March 28 next year.
 
With the excellent cooperation that exists between regional countries, the SCAA has open Seychelles to three new destinations – Mumbai, Dar Es Salaam and Antananarivo.

The local aviation authority has done the necessary to connect our small archipelago to Mumbai, the capital city of Bollywood. The national airline, Air Seychelles is to launch its first flight to this new destination on December 2 with a three times per week service – Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.  

On the same day Air Seychelles will also be able to start its first direct flight to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania’s richest city which is also recognised as a vital regional economic centre. Passengers may travel to Tanzania twice a week on Tuesdays and Sundays only.

On the following day the airline is to make its first trip to Antananarivo, Madagascar and this flight is expected to run on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Air Seychelles is to use its Airbus A320 to fly passengers to these new destinations.
Along with these new routes the national airline will also be maintaining its trips to Abu Dhabi, Mauritius, Johannesburg, Hong Kong and Paris.  

Emirates and Mihin Lanka on the other hand have announced that they will be flying more often to Seychelles in the coming winter season.

Emirates Airlines (A340) will have two additional flights; moving from 12 flights per week to 14 flights. Its first additional flight arrived in Seychelles on Monday October 27 in the afternoon and departed at night. The second additional flight landed on Thursday October 30 in the afternoon and took off in the evening.

The Sri Lankan’s national airline the Mihin Lanka that connects Seychelles to one of the most reputed medical tourism destination in the region has started a new flight schedule on Thursdays. The first flight in this new schedule was on October 30. The Mihin Lanka Airline (A321) up to now was flying to Seychelles on Tuesday and Saturday afternoon only.

Other air carriers that come to Seychelles regularly – Condor, Ethiopian Airline, Air Austral and Kenya Airways – are to maintain their usual schedule.  
Apart from these regular international flights the Seychelles International Airport will also be welcoming Russian-based Trans aero Airline and Arkia (Israeli Charter) to Seychelles on ad hoc basis.

It is worth noting that the busiest period during the winter schedule is on Saturdays with four flights in the morning and four others in the afternoon.
By the end of this year some 293,000 passengers are expected to have disembarked at the Seychelles International Airport which is a 3%-5% increase compared to last year when 284,600 arrivals were recorded.

Welcoming the news of Emirates’ double daily flights to Seychelles and Mihin Lanka’s third weekly flight which arrived on Thursday last week, the Minister for Home Affairs and Transport, Joel Morgan, who is also the chairman of Air Seychelles, said:

“We welcome the additional flights to Seychelles. Extra connections will be a great boost for business and tourism for not only Seychelles but for the two countries which are connecting to Seychelles as well. This increase in capacity will not only offer more choices to the passengers but will also increase cargo capacity. The additional flights is a testament of the good relationship that has been built between Seychelles and the two airlines.”