Air Seychelles’ new schedule offers faster transit to Europe |14 April 2012

The timetable changes, effective from May 1, see Air Seychelles doubling its Mahe to Abu Dhabi flights from two to four a week and the introduction of Airbus A330-200 aircraft on the route, with 22 flat bed business class seats and 240 seats in economy. The Airbus has 51 more seats than the Boeing 767-300ER it is replacing, said the airline in a communiqué.

“The combined aircraft upgrade and frequency increase boost Air Seychelles’ capacity on the route by 240 per cent per week. Etihad Airways maintains its four weekly frequencies,” it said.

“The new combined Air Seychelles-Etihad Airways schedule means passengers flying to and from the Seychelles will have greatly improved sub-four hour connectivity through Abu Dhabi. These connections will jump by 57 to 375 flights per week,” the airline said.

“These changes are a major step forward in re-energising the Air Seychelles brand and ensuring we become the carrier of choice in the Indian Ocean region and beyond,” the airline’s chief executive Cramer Ball said.

 “They allow us to offer our passengers a schedule that connects directly into Europe on Etihad Airways global network.”
The new schedule will give a daily seamless connection from London, Paris, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Berlin.

It will also offer improved connectivity to and from other European cities including Dublin, Milan, Munich, Brussels and Geneva.

Passengers bound for London, Manchester and Dublin will also enjoy connectivity of less than two hours.

“There will also be more connections to and from the Gulf region, the Indian subcontinent, the Far East and Australia.”
Air Seychelles is due to take delivery of a second A330-200 aircraft later this year, enabling it to launch services to Beijing in early 2013.

The national airline will also make changes to its Mahe to Mauritius schedule, maintaining two flights per week, but amending its days of operation to Wednesdays and Fridays. This ensures maximum connectivity to Europe via Abu Dhabi.

Etihad Airways forged a strategic partnership with Air Seychelles earlier this year when it took a 40% equity stake in the carrier.