Air Seychelles and Air France sign significant MOU

Air Seychelles and Air France yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), heralding a new era of commercial cooperation between the two carriers.

The agreement was signed at a meeting in Aix en Provence in France between Joël Morgan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Transport and Chairman of Air Seychelles, and Frédéric Gagey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air France.

The MoU lays the groundwork for a commercial agreement that will deliver a range of benefits to both airlines and their customers, including codeshare opportunities between Air France and Air Seychelles on each other’s respective air networks, reciprocal frequent flyer points earn, redemption and recognition benefits, as well as technical and cargo cooperation, subject to regulatory approvals.

Minister Morgan said the MoU was an important development that will support the commencement of a non-stop, three-per-week service to the French capital on 1 July 2015.

“This new era of cooperation is the result of a bilateral meeting between President Michel and President Hollande held in Paris last December where it was decided that direct links between France and Seychelles were a necessity.

“The renewed partnership with Air France is a significant milestone for Air Seychelles and forms a key part of our strategy to build upon tourism arrivals from France and the wider Europe region. It is something that we have worked very hard to achieve.

“The MoU I have signed will continue to build upon our already excellent relations between Seychelles and France and will also boost business between our two countries,” Minister Morgan said.

Manoj Papa, Chief Executive Officer of Air Seychelles, said: “We are excited about this partnership with Air France, which represents a shared commitment to build the passenger and cargo market between Seychelles and France.”

Mr Gagey said: “We are pleased to develop our relationship with Air Seychelles, which will provide guests with enhanced access between France and the Seychelles archipelago.  Through this MoU, we can explore joint opportunities that will give business and leisure travellers an unmatched offering and add to our bottom lines.”

In July 2014, Air Seychelles launched a twice-per-week service between Seychelles and France via Abu Dhabi.