Air Seychelles clarifies flight rescheduling |23 June 2020
Air Seychelles has clarified that the situation in which it had to operate an all cargo flight to Dubai on Saturday June 20, instead of the scheduled combined passengers flight, was due to the fact that the airline had yet to receive permission from United Arab Emirates to carry passengers on that route.
The local airline made this clarification yesterday following complaints from its customers who had booked and paid for their seats to Dubai on Air Seychelles’ flight HM8018.
One of the customers told Seychelles NATION that Air Seychelles should have only started taken bookings for its special flight to Dubai when it had received clearance.
“This is unacceptable. They should have gotten approval before taking people’s money,” the customer argued.
A statement from Air Seychelles’ spokesperson explained that a total of 11 passengers were booked to travel on this special flight and were notified of the rescheduling of their flight.
With Air Seychelles now cleared to operate flights carrying passengers from Seychelles to Dubai, the flight has now been tentatively set for Friday, June 26.
“At the moment due to COVID-19, the situation remains dynamic and keeps changing at the destinations where the airline plans operate, hence expected delays may occur. For a successful operation, all flights are subjected to the approval of the government at each destination including regulatory approval as well as that of the Seychelles department of health. Only in adherence to all of these requirements can Air Seychelles operate flights to the mentioned destinations,” the statement from Air Seychelles said.
“Following the rescheduling of the flight, passengers who had already booked tickets on the Seychelles-Dubai route were notified personally by the Air Seychelles team of the rescheduling of their flight. Passengers who did not wish to travel as per the airline’s policy were advised to opt for a full refund.”
“In regards to the article published in Seychelles NATION on June 12, Air Seychelles had not advertised the flight to be operated on Saturday, June 20 but only the flight operated on Saturday, June 13, 2020. Air Seychelles has not started its commercial passenger operations yet. All the special flights being operated outbound of Seychelles is to return stranded visitors to their home while the inbound flights is being operated for stranded Seychellois nationals as well as non-Seychellois residents with permanent residence status in Seychelles only,” it concluded.
Elsie Pointe/Air Seychelles communique