AIR SEYCHELLES, the national airline of the Republic of Seychelles, commenced its services to Hong Kong. The inaugural flight was the first of three weekly services between the Seychelles and Hong Kong, operated with equity and codeshare partner, Etihad Airways.
Cramer Ball, Air Seychelles chief executive officer said: “The launch of services to Hong Kong is a momentous occasion for Air Seychelles, capping a remarkable year in which we returned to profitability.
“Through our partnership with Etihad Airways we have been able to transform our business and make improvements that we could not have achieved independently.
“We have responded to demand from our affluent leisure and tourism guests, and introduced a new international inflight product with fully flat beds and restaurant-quality food and beverage service. We now offer a business class experience, which is world-class, to rival any airline.
“Our new services offer an attractive new proposition for anyone wishing to visit the Seychelles, which last year won the Island Holiday Destination of the year in 2012 from the China Travel Industry Awards, and we are confident that demand for our services will grow.
“The new services also offer travellers from Hong Kong and nearby southern China the added benefit of seamless onward connections at Abu Dhabi to more than 20 destinations on Etihad Airways’ Europe, Africa, the GCC and Middle East network,” Ball added.
Joel Morgan, Seychelles Minister for Home Affairs and Transport and Air Seychelles’ chairman said: “We are particularly excited about Air Seychelles’ new services as visitor arrivals from China have been doubling each year for the past three years, and 2013 is on track to continue the trend.
“The agreements include the flexibility for codeshare agreements with other airlines. In the past two years, we have modernised our bilaterals with China and Singapore, and concluded new ones with Hong Kong and South Korea. We will add more in 2013.”