Air Seychelles, the national airline of the Republic of Seychelles, has registered double digit growth in its revenue, passenger and cargo volumes for the first half compared to last year.

Announcing the first half results, the airline said it had posted total revenues of $50 million (up from $42 million in 2013), an increase of 20 per cent for the first half of the year.
 
A total of 184,101 passengers flew with Air Seychelles in the first six months, up nearly 25 per cent compared to 146,980 passengers for the same period in 2013. Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs), reflecting network seat capacity, rose 46 per cent to 727.4 million in H1 (496.7 million), it added.  
 
The strong growth reflected the continued success in the airline’s business strategy.
 
Praslin-Mahé maintained its position as the airline’s busiest route, with 71,961 passengers flying to and from Seychelles’ second largest island.
 
Abu Dhabi was Air Seychelles’ second busiest route with 49,934 passengers carried, a substantial year-on-year increase of 90 per cent, followed by Hong Kong with 24,142 passengers (over 73 per cent); Johannesburg 22,218 passengers (over 29 per cent); and Mauritius 15,846 passengers (over 14.4 per cent).
 
Air Seychelles’ cargo operations recorded significant growth in the first half with 3,520 tonnes carried, 35 per cent more than 2,606 tonnes in 2013.
 
The airline’s domestic cargo services also performed well, rising 8.4 tonnes to 13.2 tonnes, a 172 per cent year-on-year increase over 4.8 tonnes last year.  
 
Air Seychelles achieved average seat factors of nearly 60 per cent across its network of five destinations in H1, up 8.5 percentage points on a year earlier with the seat occupancy in the second quarter reaching 73 per cent.
 
In the first half of 2014, Air Seychelles expanded its codeshare agreement with strategic partner Etihad Airways, adding Amman, Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh, Rome, Seoul and Zurich to its global partnership network, strengthening the island carrier’s connections to new tourism source markets.
 
CEO Manoj Papa said: "Our strong performance in the first half of 2014, and growth in revenue, passenger and cargo figures, reflects the continued success of our business model, our partnership with Etihad Airways, and the hard work and dedication of our staff."
 
"Overall it continues to be a tough operating environment for many airlines, but we are confident our strategy will continue to allow us to drive quality revenue, enhance the guest experience, while being a catalyst for boosting trade and tourism into Seychelles," it added.-TradeArabia News Service