Air Seychelles to fly twice weekly to Abu Dhabi |04 February 2012

This follows last week’s announcement that Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has formed a strategic partnership by taking a 40% stake in the airline.

Complementing Etihad Airways’ existing four weekly services from Abu Dhabi to Mahe, Air Seychelles will on March 12 inaugurate two weekly return services on this same route.

Effectively, the new schedule will offer six direct services per week between Abu Dhabi and Mahe, increasing to seven per week from June 2012.

These Air Seychelles flights will operate on a Boeing 767-300ER series aircraft, in a two-class configuration and offering a total of 844 seats each week.

The new flights went on sale yesterday.
A key benefit to travellers of the new Air Seychelles non-stop Mahe-Abu Dhabi service is convenient flight arrival and departure times and connectivity from Mahe with Etihad Airways’ codeshare flights through Abu Dhabi to the Far East, Australia, the Indian subcontinent and the Gulf region.

Etihad Airways’ guests, particularly from key feeder markets Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and the United Kingdom, will also benefit from increased connectivity options in travel to Mahe and onward destinations across the Air Seychelles network, such as Mauritius and Johannesburg. 

Air Seychelles’ chief executive Cramer Ball said: “Seychelles has already proven to be a hugely popular holiday destination among Etihad Airways guests. With these additional two Air Seychelles weekly flights, we look forward to successfully serving the route, tourism and business at each end and beyond.”

Etihad Airways started flying to Seychelles on November 2, 2011.
Air Seychelles began long-haul operations in 1983 and has been a pillar of Seychelles’ primary economic activity – tourism. Likewise, it is the primary domestic airline offering connectivity to popular tourism establishments in the archipelago. Air Seychelles is an IATA member and holds both IOSA and EASA certification.

As for Etihad Airways, it began operations in 2003 and in 2011 carried 8.3 million passengers. From its hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Etihad Airways serves 82 passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America with a fleet of 65 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and 100 aircraft on order, including 10 Airbus A380s, the world’s largest passenger aircraft.

Etihad Airways also owns nearly 30% of Air Berlin, Europe’s sixth largest airline, and 40% of Air Seychelles.