Etihad Airways to fly to Seychelles |27 May 2011

Etihad will operate four return services per week from its home base in Abu Dhabi to Seychelles International Airport on Mahé.

The flights, to be operated on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, will leave Abu Dhabi at 1000hrs, arriving Mahé at 1435hrs.

The return flights are at 1855hrs, arriving Abu Dhabi at 2330hrs.
The service will be operated by an Airbus A320 aircraft, configured in Pearl Business and Coral Economy class, offering 1,088 seats each week.

Welcoming this decision, the chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) Alain St Ange said this is good news for Seychelles.

“Abu Dhabi is an important hub in its own right and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a potential market for Seychelles and this direct air link will only help to consolidate the Seychelles’ position as an accessible tourism destination,” he said.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive, said: “The Seychelles has strong and growing appeal as a premium leisure destination, with increasing numbers of UAE residents and European travellers holidaying there. With the recent honeymoon of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Seychelles is likely to gain new interest as a destination of choice.

“Our increased frequencies from mid-2011 on some of our primary routes from Europe make the approaching northern winter period an ideal time to launch these new services. We expect this will be a hugely popular destination, in particular for holidaymakers from the Gulf Cooperation Council and European markets, due to the ease of connecting services through Abu Dhabi and convenient scheduling.”

In addition to the leisure appeal of the Seychelles, the UAE – and Abu Dhabi in particular – have investment interests in the destination, further supporting Etihad’s entry to the route.
Seychelles will become the 68th destination on Etihad’s global network.