Air Seychelles sets the record straight |14 July 2016

Air Seychelles has sent the following clarifications in response to the ‘Letter to the Editor’ by Alexia G. Amesbury published in the July 12 issue of the Today in Seychelles newspaper.

“Air Seychelles is the national airline and a commercial business with a mandate to create value for both Seychelles and its people.  Over the past four years, since the introduction of the Air Seychelles/Etihad Airways partnership agreement, the airline has recorded achievements including the following:

• Fourth year of profitability reported in 2015;

• Achieved four-star Skytrax airline rating in 2013;

• World Travel Awards 2016 rewarded Air Seychelles with Indian Ocean’s Leading Airline, Indian Ocean’s Leading Airline - Cabin Crew, Indian Ocean’s Leading Airline – Business Class and Indian Ocean’s Leading Airline – Economy Class;

• Increased the proportion of Seychellois pilots to 69% of the total (66 out of 95 pilots);

• Pilot salary structures benchmarked against international standards and upgraded in 2015;

• Over 200 Seychellois Cabin Crew trained in the world class Etihad Airways training academy;

• 18 young Seychellois enrolled in the Etihad graduate management programme, seven of whom have already graduated and taken up roles in Air Seychelles; 

• Seven Seychellois cadet engineers trained in Abu Dhabi returning to support the Airbus fleet;

• Replaced ageing Boeing 767 aircraft with modern Airbus A330/A320 fleet;

• Financed the introduction of three new Twin Otters to grow domestic fleet to six aircraft; 

• Grown domestic flights between Mahé and Praslin to over 360 per week; 

• Recently added a further 84 extra flights in peak season July and August;

• 99% technical reliability of domestic Twin Otter in last 12 months;

• 87% of domestic flights in 2015 departed within three minutes of scheduled departure time.

• Lowered all resident fares to R512 for return flights between Mahé and Praslin;

• Introduced international baggage allowance on domestic flights for residents checking in on Praslin connecting onto international flights;

• Upgraded to the SABRE reservations and check-in system to allow guests travelling on domestic flights to check in from 24 hours in advance up to just 60 minutes before the flight and arrive later at the airport, up to 20 minutes before flight departure;

• Enabled online web purchase and check-in of international and domestic tickets;

• Since 2014 grown the number of residents travelling on domestic flights by over 84% to over 9,000 per month;

• Reduced operating cost per seat by over 10% since 2013;

• Substantial cost savings achieved by having a joint procurement process in place through the Etihad Airways partnership;

• Codeshare partnerships increased from one to 61 in 30 countries with Etihad Airways partner airlines and other airlines, contributing 41% to the airline’s total revenue;

• Air Seychelles positioned as the gateway to Indian Ocean for all Etihad Airways partner airlines;

• IATA, ICAO and Alliance Vanille reflect Air Seychelles growing recognition in the world of aviation as a remarkable story.

 With regard to some of the specific comments within the letter by Mrs Amesbury, the following are actual facts:

• In January this year, Air Seychelles employees were awarded a 13th month salary bonus.

• In addition over 80% of staff qualified for a further salary increase based on 2015 performance.

• No pilot employed by Air Seychelles has left Air Seychelles during the last 12 months.

• Carrying over 9,000 residents per month domestically between Mahé and Praslin clearly shows Air Seychelles is focused on local community as well as supporting growth of the tourism industry on Praslin and Seychelles in general.

Air Seychelles recognises the importance of customer service.  Having introduced the right technology, the airline is well equipped to increase its focus on delivering the best possible service levels to all its guests.  

We continue to focus on On Time Performance, staff engagement and customer satisfaction.

Despite the very competitive external trading circumstances globally, Air Seychelles has achieved significant growth and continues to invest in its employees and infrastructure to enable future success.”