Air Seychelles launches flights to German city of Düsseldorf

• Two-per-week service on Airbus A330 aircraft with 254 seats
• Convenient overnight flights to the Seychelles archipelago
• Second destination served in Europe after Paris – Charles de Gaulle

Air Seychelles, the national airline of the Republic of Seychelles, has launched flights to the German city of Düsseldorf.

The inaugural service, HM14, landed at Düsseldorf International Airport this morning after a ten-hour overnight flight, where it was met by a traditional water-cannon salute.

Captained by Seychellois pilots Nicole Chang Leng and Christophe Larue, the flight was operated by an Airbus A330 named after Silhouette, an island lying 20 km northwest of Mahé in the Seychelles.

Jean Weeling-Lee, Chairman of Air Seychelles, said: “The launch of services to Düsseldorf represents our commitment to enhancing air connectivity between Seychelles and Europe, and providing our guests with more travel choice and flexibility.

“As the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state in Germany with 18 million inhabitants, Düsseldorf is the perfect gateway to the country and makes a logical addition to our route network.

“We are confident this service will perform well and drive the sustainable growth of tourism on both sides.”

Located in western Germany, Düsseldorf is one of the wealthiest cities in the country and a major centre of commerce, fashion and art, known for its world-famous state art collection, acclaimed Deutsche Oper am Rhein opera and the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus theatre.

Roy Kinnear, Chief Executive Officer of Air Seychelles, said: “We’re delighted to commence twice-weekly flights to Düsseldorf in Germany, a strategically important market for Air Seychelles and one of the biggest sources of inbound tourism to our islands.

“Last year close to 40,000 business and leisure travellers visited Seychelles, and this non-stop service will make their journey to our archipelago much more convenient, with well-timed evening departures and morning arrivals.

“In addition to capturing point-to-point traffic between Seychelles and Düsseldorf, we expect strong flows of travellers connecting through Mahé to our regional services to Mauritius, Durban and Johannesburg in South Africa as well as Antananarivo in the Indian Ocean.”

The Düsseldorf service will be operated on a two-class Airbus A330 with 18 seats in Business Class and 236 in Economy Class, providing a total of 1,016 seats to and from the Seychelles each week.

To extend its reach across Germany and further enhance two-way connectivity to the Seychelles, Air Seychelles will codeshare on airberlin’s domestic flights to selected cities in Germany, as well as Etihad Airways’ double-daily service between Düsseldorf and Abu Dhabi, provide a wealth of travel options.

Düsseldorf is the second new route launch by Air Seychelles this week after the introduction of a twice-weekly connection to South Africa’s coastal city of Durban yesterday, 30 March.

Flight schedule for Düsseldorf flights:

*All departures and arrivals above are listed in local time.