Air Seychelles adds 'Silhouette' to the island nation's register of aircraft
The Seychelles national airline now has two Seychelles registered aircraft in its international fleet. After Amirantes in June this year, Silhouette has become the airline’s second Airbus A320, previously registered in the United Arab Emirates with Etihad Airways, to be transferred to the Seychelles civil aircraft register.
The Airbus was officially welcomed as part the Air Seychelles fleet Tuesday morning, as it was greeted by the traditional water canon salute at the International airport at Pointe Larue, on the eastern cost of the Seychelles main island of Mahé.
Registered as S7-SIL, the aircraft which was leased from Etihad earlier this year, has been named after the Indian Ocean archipelago’s third largest island, Silhouette.
The move is expected to offer more commercial advantages to Air Seychelles including the opening up of air access to destinations, which require a Seychelles registered aircraft for charter and scheduled operations based on bilateral air services agreements the Indian Ocean archipelago has signed with other countries.
Air Seychelles, which was established in 1977 and adopted its present name in September 1978, was until 2012 wholly owned by the Seychelles government.
UAE's Etihad Airways invested $45 million in Air Seychelles when it bought a 40 percent share in the airline in 2012 with the aim of turning the company around after several prior years of losses.
As part of its continued expansion growth, Joel Morgan, the Chairman of Air Seychelles, also the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Transport has announced that the airline is studying the possibility opening up new routes including one to serve the Comoros islands responding to the island’s government request to connect the Comoros to Paris.
“We are also planning to go to Beijing later this year if all goes well...and next year we will increase our frequency to Beijing and later look into the possibility of flying to Shanghai…this is part of our strategy to diversify our tourism economy by not only focussing on Europe but on Asia and Africa as well,” said Morgan.
Apart from its two Seychelles registered aircraft, Amirantes and Silhouette, Air Seychelles has two other aircraft that remain registered in the UAE with Etihad Airways.
They are two Airbus A330s acquired in 2012 and 2013, the "Aldabra" and "Vallee de Mai", named after Seychelles' two World heritage sites listed by UNESCO to operate flights to Paris, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Johannesburg.
Morgan has also indicated that Air Seychelles plans to bring a third aircraft, one of its A330 onto the Seychelles register