Air Seychelles to End Long-Haul Flights, Focus on Local Operations
On April 24, 2018, Air Seychelles will cancel its long-haul flight between Seychelles International Airport on the island of Mahe (SEZ), and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). The SEZ-CDG route makes up 30% of the airline's passenger revenue.
The small national carrier, which is partly owned by Etihad Airways, no doubt is struggling from increased international competition. British Airways is expected to launch service to Seychelles in March, while Air France subsidiary Joon begins operations in May, followed by Swiss Edelweiss Air in September. These three airlines join nine existing carriers that serve the island nation in addition to Air Seychelles, creating a huge increase in capacity to Seychelles that will likely drive airfare prices down.
"This represents a major challenge to the company as Paris accounts for approximately 30% of our total passenger revenue at air Seychelles," Air Seychelles CEO Remco Althius said in reference to the combined influx of inbound availability to Seychelles.
Air Seychelles will also cancel service to Antananarivo, Madagascar (TNR) in April, continuing the recent major adjustments to the airline's business model. These cancellations follow in the wake of last September's termination of Air Seychelles' twice-weekly Dusseldorf (DUS) route, which was in service for less than six months.
Instead, Air Seychelles plans to shift its focus a little closer to home, concentrating on its domestic efforts, including its inter-island operations between Mahe and Praslin (PRI) as well as island charters and scenic tour packages. In addition, the airline plans to replace its two regional Airbus A320 with next-generation narrow-bodied aircraft in 2019 in a bid to operate more competitively. Air Seychelles currently owns 10 planes in total.
Seychelles as a country saw marked growth in tourism in 2017, with a 15% increase over 2016. Austrian Airlines became the third airline to offer nonstop direct service between Europe and Seychelles. The 115-island archipelago nation anticipates an additional 8-10% increase in tourism in 2018, bolstering the main pillar of Seychelles' economy.
Feature photo courtesy Air Seychelles
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Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month