AIR SEYCHELLES RESPONDS TO TOURISM TRADE REQUESTS TO LAUNCH A SERIES OF CHARTERS FROM CHINA
(Posted 29th June 2017)
Air Seychelles yesterday announced it will operate non-stop charter flights from Chengdu, located in southwestern China, to Seychelles.
The airline will offer flights from the city of more than 14 million people every Wednesday from 19 July through to 23 August, providing six return services in total during the period.
Air Seychelles teamed up with the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) to secure the charter services following a series of promotional events aimed at increasing awareness of the tropical archipelago in China, one of the fastest-growing travel markets in the world. It is also a result of the number of Chinese visitors dropping in the first half of 2017 due to a lack of nonstop services between China and the archipelago.
The capital of China’s Sichuan province, Chengdu is known for its rich cuisine and teahouse culture, shrines and temples, and giant panda sanctuaries, which are home to more than 80% of the wild giant pandas in the world.
Roy Kinnear, Chief Executive Officer of Air Seychelles, said: ‘Our charter flights from Chengdu will be operated on our Airbus A330s, providing a capacity of more than 1,500 seats to our islands. We are delighted to have worked together with STB to make these charter flights a reality and look forward to welcoming our first guests from Chengdu and treating them to our famous Seychellois hospitality. China has enormous potential for the Seychelles tourism industry and we are keen on continuing to work closely with a number of partners in China to attract a growing number of visitors to our islands‘.
Sherin Francis, Chief Executive Officer of STB then added: ‘These additional charter flights from Chengdu will go a long way in supporting our strategic efforts to boost inbound tourism numbers from China. We worked hand-in-hand with Air Seychelles to secure these charter services and are eagerly anticipating the first direct flight touching down in Seychelles on 19 of July‘.
More details about Destination Seychelles can be found via www.seychelles.travel
