MANOJ PAPA LEAVES AIR SEYCHELLES AS ROY KINNEAR NAMED NEW CEO
(Posted 26th June 2015)
In a surprise development has Air Seychelles’ changed CEO’s when it was announced yesterday that Roy Kinnear, previously Senior Vice President for Revenue Management and Planning at Etihad in Abu Dhabi, will take over on the 01st of July from Manoj Papa. Manoj had joined the airline from South African Airways in March 2014 replacing Cramer Ball who, after two years at HM, marked by a return to profitability, went on to take over as CEO at Jet Airways, another Etihad partner airline.
Only last weekend had Manoj received three trophies, as reported here, for Air Seychelles at the World Travel Award ceremony which was held at the Kempinski Seychelles Resort.
Under Manoj’s stewardship had Air Seychelles started to embark on an ambitious growth path, adding in December last year three new destinations in rapid succession, after taking delivery of their first liveried Airbus A320. Dar es Salaam, Antananarivo and Mumbai were launched with two and three weekly flights respectively, the latter two since then getting a fourth flight due to high demand for seats as was a fourth weekly flight added to Mauritius. The extra flights saw the introduction of a second Airbus A320 to the fleet which also includes two Airbus A330-200’s for long haul flights and to Johannesburg. Domestic scheduled flights to Praslin and charters to other islands are served with DHC Twin Otters.
It was the airline’s chairman Mr. Joel Morgan, who is also the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Transport, who made the announcement in Victoria yesterday, when he introduced Roy during a brief ceremony.
It could not be established immediately why Manoj Papa left Air Seychelles before the end of his contract nor where he is headed. Speculation that he is returning to SAA to be part of new CEO Nico Bezuidenhout’s turnaround team could not be confirmed. Regardless of the where and why though best wishes to Manoj for his future career and a warm welcome to Roy at Air Seychelles.
