National carrier partners with Air Mauritius for joint UK flights |13 November 2004

Air Mauritius has agreed to purchase 100 seats – about 40 percent of capacity on the Boeing 767-300 – per flight for the new service up front.

Air Seychelles executive chairman Captain David Savy said on Friday that the agreement would provide an opportunity to promote both island destinations as a “two-centre holiday product.”

“There is a growing trend for holiday makers to share their holiday between multiple destinations,” he said.

The move will be further facilitated since a few hotel groups currently operating both in Seychelles and Mauritius – namely Le Meridien, Beachcomber and Constance – were willing to promote the joint product, he added.

The agreement was warmly received by UK tour operators at this week’s World Travel Market (WTM), who were keen to package and sell the sister islands, he said.

With existing tourism numbers still down, however, Captain Savy said the agreement would allow Air Seychelles to satisfy the country’s own demand while at the same time earning revenue from the seats catering to Mauritius.

He said this was one of the ways that Air Seychelles would be attempting to earn extra revenue to survive “the onslaught” of new competitors entering a liberalised air access environment in Seychelles.

Qatar Airways is expected to start flights to Seychelles next month and Emirates is slated to begin services in January.

Captain Savy allowed that although the new entries might bring some degree of additional tourists to Seychelles, the national carrier expects to lose a significant portion of traffic. He voiced concerns over predatory pricing, in which companies offer services for less than their actual value in an attempt to push out competitors and gain market share.

For now, it appears the two-centre products will be at the forefront of Air Seychelles’ strategy in the new landscape.

Captain Savy said Air Seychelles was working with Air Mauritius to develop additional two-centre traffic to commonly served destinations.

A South Africa-Seychelles package, a safari package between East Africa and Seychelles, as well as other European destinations in addition to the UK are some of the possibilities.

Fares proposed to tour operators are not only attractive but also provide greater flexibility to customers in terms of departures and routing, said Captain Savy.

The new flights to London will depart Heathrow Airport in London on Friday and Sunday. Both flights will be non-stop to Seychelles and then onward to Mauritius after a short transit. A third weekly flight will also be operated between the islands using the same Boeing 767-300.

The new agreement is subject to government approval.