MANILA, Philippines – Air Seychelles, the national airline of the Republic of the Seychelles, has announced details of its new direct flights from Mahé to Abu Dhabi.
This follows the announcement that Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, would form a strategic partnership by taking a 40-percent stake in the airline.
Complementing Etihad Airways’ existing four weekly services from Abu Dhabi to Mahé, March 12 will see Air Seychelles inaugurate two weekly return services on the route. Effectively, the new schedule will offer six direct services per week between Abu Dhabi and Mahé, increasing to seven per week from June 2012.
Cramer Ball, Air Seychelles chief executive officer, said: “The Seychelles have already proven to be a hugely popular holiday destination amongst Etihad Airways guests. With these additional two Air Seychelles weekly flights, we look forward to successfully serving the route, tourism and business at each end and beyond.”
These Air Seychelles flights will operate on a Boeing 767-300ER series aircraft, in a two-class configuration, offering a total of 844 seats each week.
The new flights are already on sale. A key benefit to travellers of the new Air Seychelles non-stop Mahé-Abu Dhabi service is convenient flight arrival and departure times and connectivity from Mahé with Etihad Airways’ codeshare flights through Abu Dhabi to the Far East, Australia, the Indian Subcontinent and the Gulf region.
Etihad Airways guests, particularly from key feeder markets of Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and the United Kingdom, will also benefit from the increased connectivity options in travel to Mahé and onward destinations across the Air Seychelles network, such as Mauritius and Johannesburg.
Etihad Airways commenced services itself to the Seychelles on Nov. 2, 2011.