Air Seychelles not permitted to fly UAE residents to Dubai |02 July 2020
Permission has not been granted by UAE authorities for Air Seychelles to carry passengers disembarking in Dubai as their final destination (Photo: Air Seychelles)
Eleven passengers who reside in the United Arab Emirates were left confused as they weren’t able to board the two special HM8018 flights to Dubai on Saturday and Tuesday.
Seychelles NATION reached out to Air Seychelles who noted that they are only operating flights to Dubai to repatriate visitors stranded in Seychelles back to their home countries.
At the moment, Air Seychelles is not allowed to carry passengers on the Seychelles-Dubai sector only as permission has not been granted by the UAE authorities to carry passengers disembarking in Dubai as their final destination.
Air Seychelles is therefore only accepting passengers travelling beyond Dubai (transiting passengers) able to connect with Emirates flights to over 40 destinations following an agreement made with the airline.
The spokesperson for the airline noted that Air Seychelles did not cancel any flights to Dubai last week. The latest outbound passenger flight was operated on Tuesday June 30, 2020.
Air Seychelles has already reached out to the 11 passengers who were not able to travel on the flight to Dubai.
“As the situation remains dynamic and following ongoing changes being implemented on a daily basis due to the COVID-19 situation at the destination, the passengers have been advised to also opt for a refund,” said the spokesperson.
As the Seychelles International Airport is still not open for commercial passenger services, effective July 1, 2020, Air Seychelles will be offering a twice per week service to Dubai every Tuesday and Saturday.
Visitors travelling beyond Dubai to their final destinations are invited to take advantage of this great opportunity with Air Seychelles in collaboration with Emirates available only throughout the month of July.
Air Seychelles has also noted that rumours of a troubled relationships between them and Emirates are completely false as the two companies maintain a good relationships as they have been working together to repatriate stranded foreigners.
Christophe Zialor