AMIRANTES NOW GONE BACK TOO TO ILFC
Air Seychelles has confirmed that their second B767-200, named Amirantes, has now also been flown back to the United States where it has now arrived at a designated airfield where the International Lease Finance Corporation keeps their planes. The lease, initially running until 2014, was upon mutual agreement dissolved allowing Air Seychelles to now plan in earnest for its future as the two older B767 models left behind three newer and more efficient B767-300, which remain on the fleet for the forseable future.
No details on the exact nature of the deal could be obtained from either side, as to what, if any penalties have been applied or if ILFC accepted a trade in against and upcoming future deal with even more fuel efficient and more modern aircraft than the present generation of B767s used by HM.
What is understood though is that the airline is undertaking an openminded full strategic review with all options on the table to map out its future survival in an increasingly competitive market, where by the end of this year 25 frequencies will be flown from Gulf airports to Mahe by Emirates, double daily from Dubai, Qatar Airways daily from Doha and four times a week with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.
Air Seychelles flies in code share with Air France 6 times a week between Paris and Mahe but also serves London, Milan, Rome, Johannesburg and Singapore, with a possible codeshare to China appearing more and more likely in the future. Watch this space.
