Air Seychelles expands network reach to five continents with codeshare flights to São Paulo
Air Seychelles, the national airline of the Republic of Seychelles, today marked a major milestone in the development of its flight network with the expansion of its codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways to São Paulo.
As part of this development, the island carrier will now place its “HM” flight code on Etihad Airways’ daily service between São Paulo and Abu Dhabi, making the Brazilian city of nearly 12 million people its first virtual network point in South America, widening its reach to five continents for the first time.
Sampa – as the city is known – is the wealthiest city in the southern hemisphere, known for its round-the-clock nightlife and rich culture, including art-house cinemas, experimental theatre groups and many world-class museums.
Roy Kinnear, Air Seychelles’ Chief Executive Officer, said: “We’re thrilled to add the vibrant city of São Paulo to our growing list of codeshare destinations with Etihad Airways, enabling business and leisure travellers to fly to Seychelles with just one short stop in Abu Dhabi.
“São Paulo has now widened our network footprint to five continents and shows without doubt the power of our codeshare strategy, which has connected our islands to far more cities around the world than we could fly to alone.
“Brazil’s economy and outbound travel market has experienced incredible growth over the last decade, with up to nine million people travelling overseas each year, and with these seven weekly codeshare flights we can look forward to welcoming more visitors to our shores.”
Jöel Morgan, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Transport and Air Seychelles’ Chairman, said: “The partnership between Air Seychelles and Etihad Airways continues to break new ground with the addition of codeshare flights to São Paulo, which has now expanded our brand as a carrier and as a country to the fast-growing South American market, reflecting our continuing efforts to build our presence in emerging travel markets.
“The tourism and cultural links between Brazil and Seychelles have strengthened significantly in recent years and brought our two countries, which share a similarly colourful culture, esprit and charismatic approach to life, much closer together.
“The original home of the carnival, Brazil always sends a samba troupe to the annual International Carnaval de Victoria that takes place in Seychelles, and we look forward to further strengthening such cultural ties with our new air link to São Paulo.”
