AIR SEYCHELLES RENEW CODESHARE WITH AIR FRANCE
(Posted 19th August 2015)
Following the signing of an MoU in April, ahead of Air Seychelles returning to Paris with nonstop flights, have the two airlines yesterday inked a major codeshare deal which will see the French market connect to the Seychelles like never before. The agreement was signed by Roy Kinnear, Chief Executive Officer of Air Seychelles and Frédéric Gagey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air France.
The partnership will see Air Seychelles place its ‘HM’ flight code on Air France’s domestic flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and six of the largest cities in France, namely Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseilles, Montpellier, Nice and Toulouse.
In addition will the ‘HM’ code appear on Air France’s European services between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Athens, Berlin, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Manchester, Munich and Zurich. In summary this means that Air Seychelles will codeshare with Air France on 157 weekly domestic and regional flights.
This, combined with its codeshare service over Abu Dhabi with its partner Etihad Airways, provides the best ever access from France to the Seychelles, supporting the marketing efforts of the Seychelles Tourism Board to sell the destination to French travellers which are in terms of arrival numbers topping the charts this year.
Air France will codeshare on Air Seychelles’ thrice a week non-stop flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Seychelles but notably also on domestic flights between Mahé and Praslin. The second-biggest island of the archipelago is home of the famous Vallée de Mai nature reserve and offers some of the Seychelles’ most fancied resorts, including the Constance Lemuria, the only golf resort across the islands. Codeshared flights can be booked effective today, 19th August.
The chairman of Air Seychelles, Mr. Joel Morgan how is also the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Transport, commented on the new deal when he said: ‘This agreement is the start of a fresh chapter of cooperation not only between Air Seychelles and Air France, but between our two countries, which have deep-rooted cultural, economic and historical connections. It comes in the wake of a bilateral meeting in December 2014 between President James Michel and President François Hollande, who agreed that enhanced air access was essential to moving our relationship forward. We have achieved this by launching non-stop flights to Paris and through this exciting new partnership with Air France. The Seychelles economy is strongly driven by the tourism industry, and France, along with Germany, Italy and the UK, represents a very important market. In the first half of 2015 alone, some 18,653 travellers from France visited our paradisiacal islands, 10 per cent more than in the same period last year. We are confident that, through the new air links we now offer on our combined network with Air France, this growth will continue’.
Air Seychelles’ CEO Roy Kinnear then added his own comments, saying: ‘We are pleased to sign this major codeshare agreement with Air France, which we consider a valued partner in our network development strategy for France and neighbouring Europe. We look forward to strengthening our cooperation in subsequent phases, through lounge access and cargo cooperation. Two-way trade between Seychelles and France totalled USD $229 million in 2014, and, with 60 tonnes of weekly bellyhold capacity on our Paris-Charles de Gaulle service, there are opportunities for growth’.
Arrivals for the Seychelles this year are, compared to a year ago, are already up by 18 percent suggesting that the previous arrival record set at the end of 2014 will be surpassed by a massive margin, validating the partial re-orientation and fine-tuning of destination marketing by the Seychelles Tourism Board. For added information on the destination click on www.seychelles.travel
