PRASLIN RESIDENTS COMPLAINTS AWAIT NEW AIR SEYCHELLES MANAGERS
As the new CEO and his CFO got acquainted to their desks at the Air Seychelles headoffice at the Mahe International Airport, across on Praslin island did residents and tourism stakeholders voice their concerns, if not outright protest, over the state of inter island air services provided by Air Seychelles on their domestic flights.
Besides much lower occupancies we have this year, it is even difficult at times to get to the main island or for tourists to come over by air. Some of Air Seychelles domestic aircraft are not operating it seems, we dont know why, but we hear that they only got one new Twin Otter last year and the order for the other aircraft was either cancelled or delayed when the new chairman and board took over and Capt. Savy left. We in Praslin depend on reliable air services, not just the ferry services between Port Victoria and here, so the new managers need to know that it is not only their international revival for our national airline which is at stake but they should pay attention to our domestic flight services also quite immediately a regular source from Praslin wrote to this correspondent yesterday, after reading about the arrival of the new management team.
It appears that the Seychelles Hotel and Tourism Association is also getting involved in this issue, as they reportedly held a meeting yesterday on Praslin to get firsthand knowledge of the various concerns their members, and the public at large, have vis a vis air transport but also general tourism developments and investments on the archipelagos second largest island. On the agenda were according to the source also the deployment of life guards along the main beaches and stepped up security to prevent petty thefts of tourists property while swimming, something which is reportedly being taken seriously by government keen to maintain the paradise reputation of the archipelago. Watch this space.
