AIR SEYCHELLES SIGNS CODESHARE WITH SOON TO BE IN ETIHAD STABLE ALITALIA
(Posted 04th August 2014)
Air Seychelles today announced it has signed a codeshare agreement with Alitalia, Italy’s ailing national carrier.
The codeshare deal will allow customers from both airlines to fly between Rome, Milan and Venice to Mahe, the Seychelles’ international airport, via Abu Dhabi.
Air Seychelles’ HM flight code will be placed on Alitalia’s five weekly return non-stop flights between Rome and Abu Dhabi, and on ten connecting flights to Milan via Rome, and twelve connecting flights to Venice via Rome.
Alitalia in turn will place its AZ code on seven of Air Seychelles’ return flights between Abu Dhabi and Seychelles, and on 47 flights per week to and from Seychelles’ second largest island, Praslin, permitting stopovers on the main island of Mahé.
Manoj Papa, Air Seychelles’ Chief Executive Officer, said when making the announcement: ‘Italy is Seychelles’ third largest European market after Germany and France and this agreement strengthens business and leisure travel connections between our two countries. The partnership with Alitalia also enhances Air Seychelles’ visibility in the Italian market, as together, we deliver more choice and connectivity for visitors, especially to Seychelles’ second largest island, Praslin. We are also delighted to add the romantic city of Venice to the Air Seychelles codeshare network, providing guests with a new and exciting European destination to explore’.
Gabriele del Torcho, Alitalia’s Chief Executive Officer in turn responded by saying: ‘We are pleased to start a codeshare agreement with Air Seychelles, following our longstanding interline cooperation. It is important to increase the connections between Italy and the Seychelles archipelago. By adding the island of Praslin, one of the world’s finest honeymoon destinations to our network, we make the route even more attractive to our clients’.
Tickets will be on sale from 4 August 2014 for travel from 4 August 2014 and can be purchased online via airseychelles.com or alitalia.com.
Alitalia has for years been financially ailing, requiring bailout after bailout and only last week’s board decision of a capital injection of 250 million Euros has finally paved the way for Etihad, Abu Dhabi’s national airline, to come on board with a share acquisition of up to 49 percent. In line with common practice will Alitalia in the future, once the share acquisition has been completed, be routing much of its traffic from their Italian gateways via Abu Dhabi when flying East, while offering additional networking opportunities to Etihad and existing partner airlines into an extensive European network.
Watch this space for breaking and regular aviation news from across the Indian Ocean islands.
