Air Seychelles adds second Airbus A330 to its fleet |29 March 2017
Air Seychelles is continuing the development of its jet fleet by taking delivery of its 10th registered aircraft named Vallée de Mai.
This second Airbus A330 operated by Seychellois flight deck crew, female Captain Nicole Chang Leng and First Officer Ronny Morel, touched down at 1pm yesterday on the island of Mahé, where it was welcomed by a water-cannon salute and a delegation of government, airline and travel trade representatives.
The aircraft flew to Seychelles from Abu Dhabi as an additional commercial flight carrying 44 passengers on board.
Accommodating 18 guests in business class and 236 in economy class, the A330 will be deployed this evening (January 29) for its first flight to Paris followed by the carrier’s new twice-weekly flights to Düsseldorf, set to commence tomorrow, as well as on existing services to Paris and selected flights to Johannesburg, Mauritius and Mumbai.
The new aircraft features a business class configuration of 18 premium leather seats that extend into fully-flat beds and have a generous 82-inch seat pitch, as well as a privacy shell for added comfort and a personal 10.5 inch TV screen with on-demand films, TV shows and music.
Guests travelling in economy class can look forward to 236 wide, ergonomically-designed cradle seats that have an industry-leading seat pitch of up to 33 inches, as well as in-seat inflight entertainment systems with a wide range of content.
Air Seychelles now operates a fleet of four Airbus jets, including two A330-200 series aircraft and two single-aisle A320 aircraft.
Air Seychelles is gearing up for an exciting network expansion that has seen an upgrade of its Paris service from three to four-per-week as of yesterday, as well twice-per-week route launches to the German city of Düsseldorf and the South African city of Durban as from tomorrow.
The chairman of Air Seychelles, Jean Weeling-Lee, said it is a very proud moment to welcome the second ‘big bird’ to Seychelles.
“We need to transform Air Seychelles in the right way and we need to have the right network, the right fleet and most of all the right plane and that is why I would like to focus on our people as they make the difference,” he said.
He said that now they have to ensure to make the airline a success and help shape it in the right way, size and network.
Chief executive of Air Seychelles Roy Kinnear said the Air Seychelles tail was voted among the five best tails in the world, “So our colourful tail fin will soon be seen even more around the world, increasing brand presence of Air Seychelles in Europe and the Indian Ocean, and promoting awareness of the beautiful Seychelles archipelago itself”.
He said the arrival of an A330 is such a meaningful moment and the Vallée de Mai is the latest milestone in the development of Air Seychelles.
He said that with their award-winning service and the superior comfort of the A330 cabins, he is confident it will be very well received by both business and leisure travellers.
“Since 2012 we focused heavily on developing a state-of-the-art fleet that offers operational efficiency, reliability and provides our guests with comfort as well as an unforgettable experience and the A330 aircraft ticks all of these boxes,” he said.
He also thanked everybody who helped make this moment possible.
