Air Seychelles welcomes four new Seychellois jet fleet commanders

Air Seychelles, the national airline of the Republic of Seychelles, has announced the promotion of four Seychellois Pilots to the rank of Captain on its international fleet.

Captains Ronny Morel, Anthony d’Offay, Archille Young and Randy Francoise were presented with their commander’s bars today Tuesday, 25 September 2018 by the airline’s Chief Executive Officer, Remco Althuis and Chief Operations Officer, Sandy Benoiton during an event held at the Air Seychelles VIP Lounge in Pointe Larue, in the presence of the airline’s senior management team as well as their families.

The First Officers have been promoted to the rank of Captain following the successful completion of an intensive command upgrade training conducted locally by the Air Seychelles Flight Operations team and the Etihad Airways Training Academy in Abu Dhabi.

Fastening their epaulette, Remco Althuis, Air Seychelles Chief Executive Officer said: “Reaching the rank of captain is the highest achievement any pilot wishes for and today I would like to congratulate the new commanders on achieving this great milestone in addition to wishing them all the best on their new journey with the airline.

“At the same time I would like to thank all those involved in building the strong pilot development programme we currently have at Air Seychelles which does not only allow young Seychellois nationals to proceed from the role of Twin Otter Captains to Jet Fleet First Officers, but it also allows for diversification in tasks whereby the Captains also gain experience in various office roles in key areas such as compliance, safety, flight data monitoring and regulations apart from conducting their normal flying duties.”

Captain Ronny Morel joined Air Seychelles in February 2008 following the completion of his studies at the 43^rd Air School in Port Alfred, South Africa.  Ronny started his career as a First Officer on the Twin Otter aircraft before moving on the Jet Fleet in August 2015. Speaking on behalf of his colleagues Captain Morel said: “It has always been my childhood dream to become a pilot and even a commander on the Air Seychelles Jet Fleet.

“Together with my other colleagues present here today, we are proud of our achievement as it has not been an easy road since the training was quite tough.

“We would like to also seize this opportunity to extend our gratitude to the Air Seychelles Flight Operations department for their continuous support throughout our training and also to our supporting families who have helped our dreams to become a reality.”

Captain Anthony d’Offay’s journey with Air Seychelles commenced in September 2010. He joined the airline as a Document Officer prior to joining the Turbo Prop Fleet in 2011 where he was later promoted to the role of Captain in 2013. He started his First Officer training for the A320 aircraft in 2015 at the Etihad Airways Training Academy and upon his return to the Seychelles in 2016 he also occupied the position of Flight Safety Officer in addition to conducting his flying duties. In early 2017 Anthony was upgraded to the role of First Officer on the airlines’ A320 aircraft prior to achieving his new post as a Captain.

Captain Archille Young has been working with the national airline for over 7 years. He joined Air Seychelles in 2010 where he worked in the Operational Control Centre on a part time basis apart from operating the Twin Otter aircraft. After obtaining the maximum flying hours on the Twin Otter aircraft, Archille joined the airlines’ Jet Fleet following the successful completion of his Airbus A320 type training.  Archille completed his command upgrade training in August 2018 and today apart from operating the Airbus A320 aircraft, Archille is also the Programme Manager for Flight Data Monitoring.

Captain Randy Francoise joined the Air Seychelles domestic operations in February 2008 as a First Officer on the Turbo Prop Fleet where after three years he was promoted to the rank of Captain before starting the Airbus A320 type rating course in 2015. As part of the experience gained Randy also had the chance to attend a two months course at the Alitalia Training Academy in 2017 before he started his command upgrade training at Etihad Airways Academy and Air Seychelles in April 2018.