Seychelles and Kazakhstan sign historic aviation agreement to foster new tourism links |04 October 2022
The signing of the new air services agreement
Seychelles’ Minister for Transport, Antony Derjacques, has signed a historic bilateral Air Services Agreement to allow airlines to operate direct flights between Mahé and Kazakhstan.
This will clear the path for a surge in tourism between the two countries.
The new air services agreement was signed on the sidelines of the 41st ICAO Assembly in Montreal by the chairman of the Civil Aviation Committee of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Talgat Lastayev, on behalf of the Republic of Kazakhstan, along with the Civil Aviation Committee’s Head of International Air Transport Regulations, Timur Tlegenov.
“Seychelles has moved at an unprecedented pace since 2012 to negotiate or expand air travel agreements with other countries. These agreements have driven economic growth to our archipelago, which is so dependent on air access. For the first time, Air Seychelles will be able to fly directly to both Almaty and Astana, providing an attractive new travel option for outbound leisure travellers from Kazakhstan who wish to have a distinctive new holiday in the Indian Ocean,” said Minister Derjacques.
The new agreement adds to Seychelles’ portfolio of air service agreements in Central and Eastern Europe. Thus, it expands Seychelles’ connection to a key regional source market that has been key to Seychelles’ growth in tourism since re-opening in March 2021.
As per the agreement, there will be daily flights between Seychelles and Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan is 9th largest country in the world, the world’s largest land-locked country, and boasts longest land-border in the world with the Russian Federation.
It has the largest economy in Central Asia, receiving more than USD370 billion in foreign investments since 1991, making it the largest recipient of foreign direct investment of all CIS countries.
With vast oil and gas fields, and uranium reserves, Kazakhstan sits atop some of the richest mineral resources in the world. Rapid growth, fueled by structural reforms and foreign direct investment has transformed the country into an upper-middle-income economy. Outbound traffic volumes to the Indian Ocean from Kazakhstan has surged five-fold in the past two years.
“Kazakhstan is a country of surprises and we are thrilled the citizenry of both countries now can explore each other’s attractions. Kazakhstan has three Unesco cultural world heritage sites, two Unesco natural world heritage sites, and is home to 120 ethnicity. Kazakhstan has already initiated a visa travel waiver for Seychellois to facilitate holiday,” said Minister Derjacques.
Press release from the Ministry of Transport