Air Seychelles expands codeshare with Alitalia to Madagascar and South Africa

CODESHARE AGREEMENT OPENS MADAGASCAR TO ITALIANS

(Posted 19th December 2016)

Air Seychelles and Alitalia, both Etihad partner airlines, have just inked an expanded codeshare deal under which Alitalia passengers can now connect on Mahe to both Antananarivo and Johannesburg and soon thereafter even Durban.
Under the agreement, Alitalia will place its AZ flight code on Air Seychelles’ four-times-a-week services to the Malagasy capital of Antananarivo and five flights to Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city and commercial capital. Subject to government approvals, the Italian flag carrier will also codeshare on Air Seychelles’ upcoming twice-weekly flights to Durban, due to commence on 30th of March 2017.

Business and leisure travellers from Italy will be able to connect onto these services via Air Seychelles-operated flights from Abu Dhabi and Paris to Seychelles, using a single combined ticket for the entire journey.

Roy Kinnear, Chief Executive Officer of Air Seychelles, said: ‘Our partnership with Alitalia continues to open up attractive travel options for holidaymakers in Italy, who can now fly with Air Seychelles to the fascinating island of Madagascar and South Africa. Through this codeshare expansion, we have strengthened our route network and added more depth to our regional services, further increasing choice and convenience for travellers. We are confident this development will stimulate passenger and cargo traffic and, at the same time, strengthen the strong cultural, trade and diplomatic bonds between Seychelles, our neighbourly island of Madagascar and South Africa’.

Cramer Ball, Chief Executive Officer of Alitalia and one of Roy Kinnear’s predecessors as CEO of Air Seychelles in turn responded: ‘Deepening our codeshare cooperation with Air Seychelles brings important benefits to our guests, who now have dozens of new travel options from Italy to Madagascar and South Africa via Seychelles. With its one-of-a-kind wildlife and nature, Madagascar is an attractive holiday destination that offers a new and exciting experience for travellers in Italy. In 2015 alone over 21,000 tourists visited Madagascar from Italy, a number which we are confident will rise with these new travel options. South Africa is a very attractive holiday destination, whose magnificent scenery, safaris and game parks are perfect for an outdoor adventure‘.

Air Seychelles operates an Airbus A320 aircraft configured with 136 seats on its four times a week Antananarivo services, while its five times a week services to Johannesburg is operated using both an A320 aircraft and the wide-body A330, which offer 254 seats.

Flight schedule between Seychelles and Antananarivo. Flights are available for travel from 18th of January 2017:

Flight schedule between Seychelles and Johannesburg. Flights are available for travel from 18 January, 2017: