Air Seychelles had ceased its commercial services in Mumbai in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline utilised its fleet of A320neo aircraft to operate a series of charter, repatriation, and cargo flights on this route. It resumed scheduled passenger flights between India and Seychelles in December 2021 and now operates weekly flights from Mumbai to Seychelles. While sharing more about the airline’s operations in the Indian context, Charles Johnson, Chief Commercial Officer, Air Seychelles, is equally thrilled that their airline is once again offering regular commercial flights between India and Seychelles.
– Prashant Nayak
During the pandemic, as an island nation, Seychelles was very much dependent on its national carrier, Air Seychelles, due to other airlines pulling out of flying to Seychelles. As a result, they were the main source for transporting commodities such as food and medical supplies. Despite this, they did operate many flights to India because there was a lot of movement for medical purchases, supplies, PPE, and even vaccines, all of which went to Seychelles from India.
From a commercial standpoint, the airline turned itself into a charter airline. So even though Seychelles was closed for tourism, the airline operated across Europe, Africa, and Australia, some of which were repatriation flights. Air Seychelles became very well known and popular in the sports industry, as they were also into sports charters. The airline flew India men’s national cricket team to Johannesburg for the 2021-22 South African Tour three four-day matches and series. They are also catering to sports teams all across Africa.
“In India, Air Seychelles on a commercial basis operates flights only to Mumbai, but we do charters to multiple destinations in India. Presently, Air Seychelles is operating one scheduled flight a week. However, to meet additional demand for May and June, we have increased connectivity to two times a week to Seychelles and Johannesburg. We have the ability to do more flights a week, but we need to judge the increase in demand in the coming months. Before the pandemic, we were flying six times a week into Mumbai and I think probably by the end of this year, we’ll be able to get back up to that frequency,” says Charles.
For the island nation, Air Seychelles stands as a pillar of tourism, which is the country’s strongest and growing economic sector. Air Seychelles is also closely working with Seychelles Tourism in promoting the destination. Taking forward, they will work together in multiple ways. Basically, it’s a symbiotic relationship between each other. The Tourism Department helps the airline with all the marketing support and, in return, the airline provides the department with ticket support and other requirements whenever needed.
Seychelles is a unique destination of its own, encompassing 115 islands. It was always known to be a very high-end, exclusive destination. Now, they are marketing it as a family-friendly destination and not only as an exclusive luxury, honeymoon, or wedding destination.
Talking about connectivity from India to Seychelles, Charles says, “We are the fastest way to get from India to South Africa, and Johannesburg is a very big market for us. Seychelles is between India and South Africa and we are the fastest carrier to get anywhere between India and South Africa, even if it’s down to Mauritius. So, once you depart Mumbai, you have a brief stop in Seychelles for one hour in the same aircraft, before continuing on to Johannesburg. This aspect is one of our unique selling factors.”
For India operation, Air Seychelles operates the A320neos, consisting of 168 seats, including 12 seats in business class. They also have Twin Otter aircraft in their fleet, used for all their domestic flying and island hopping. The best way to explore Seychelles is through island-hopping, therefore it is a popular tourist activity.
With India resuming international flights, the Air Seychelles team is thrilled because even though they have been part of the air bubble agreement and have been operating scheduled flights for a few months now, the traffic still has been very limited and the real traffic is just now starting to bounce back.
Charles shares, “Air Seychelles has been very reliant on the Eastern European and the Russian market. Now, with all the challenges that are going on there, the passenger numbers are decreasing. Taking this into consideration and with the resumption of international flights, the India market has become even more important for us. However, we used to fly six times a week, but presently we fly once a week and will soon fly twice a week. So, there is a lot of scope and room to grow in the near future.”
