Air Seychelles marks maiden Dar Es Salaam flight

Air Seychelles, the national airline of the Republic of Seychelles, yesterday marked the start of its twice-weekly service to Dar es Salaam, the economic and cultural centreof Tanzania.

The island carrier’s first passenger flight – HM777 – touched down on schedule at Julius Nyerere International Airport, marking a major newstep in its regional expansion to East Africa.

After being greeted bya traditional water cannon-salute in the morning, a senior delegation of Air Seychelles executives attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by Charles Tizeba, Tanzania’s Deputy Minister for Transport,as disembarking guests were entertained by a cultural troupe whoperformed traditional dances.

Manoj Papa, Air Seychelles’ Chief Executive Officer, said the new Mahé – Dar es Salaam route would boosttourism and commerce between Tanzania and Seychelles, as well as cater to strong demand from Tanzania onto the airline’s international network.

“Dar es Salaam is a great addition to our networkandrepresents a new growth phase for our airline. With a population of over 4 million people, the second-largest port in East Africa, and great connections to popular game parks and tourism attractions, such as snow-capped Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam is well-positioned to stimulate tourism and commercial activity on both ends.

“Our twice-weekly service, which has an annual capacity of over 28,000 seats, will enable us to continue to deliver on ourmandate tosupport the national economy, and in particular, tourism.

“This achievement has been made possible by the continued support of our close partner, Etihad Airways, which has enabled us to widen and deepen our network through the acquisition of our first Airbus A320, strengthen feed into Seychellesand position Mahé as an efficient hub for connecting East Africa to regions such as the Middle East, Asia and the Indian subcontinent.”

The Dar es Salaam route is operated byan Airbus A320 aircraft in a two-class configuration, with 16 seats in Business Class and 120 seats in Economy Class. 

Joël Morgan, Minister of Home Affairs and Transport and Chairman of Air Seychelles, said: “We are delighted to introduce our new twice-weekly service to Dar es Salaam, one of the world’s fastest-growing cities. This is the start of an exciting new chapter for our national carrier and will significantly deepen our existing bilateral ties.

“The service allows our tourism partners to promote twin-centre holidays that combine the unparalleledsafari experiences in Tanzania with superbbeach getaways to Seychelles, a combination we are confident will drive more leisure traffic to our respective destinations.

“With an annual bellyhold capacity of over 370 tonnes, our services also offer an exciting opportunity to boost the volume of tradewith Tanzania as well askey trading partners in East Africa.”

Flight schedule: