INDIA’S JET AIRWAYS EYES SEYCHELLES FLIGHTS
(Posted 24th July 2014)
Jet Airways, a partner of Etihad, is reportedly eyeing direct flights to the Seychelles to tap into the growing market of visitors coming from the subcontinent to the archipelago for business and leisure.
The airline’s CEO Cramer Ball is of course no stranger to the Seychelles, having headed the national airline for two years before leaving earlier in the year to take up his new position at the helm of one of India’s most successful privately owned airlines.
It could not be established if the flights would follow the hitherto only too familiar pattern of routing via Abu Dhabi or if nonstop flights are on the drawing board, with the Seychelles tourism industry clearly favouring the latter nor is it known at this stage if the operation will be a codeshared flight with the Seychelles’ national airline.
India has alongside China become a key emerging market for the Seychelles but the lack of nonstop flights has affected the growth potential. Sri Lanka’s Mihin Lanka, through their own network connections and through partner Sri Lankan have offered a more direct route for travelers via Colombo since they launched flights but all other routings presently have to go via either Dubai or Abu Dhabi to reach the Seychelles.
Watch this space for breaking and regular aviation news from across the Indian Ocean islands.
