UAE’s national airline Etihad Airways and Air Seychelles, the national airline of Seychelles, in association with Chinese travel agency Caissa Touristic, is set to operate  additional flights between the Seychelles and Beijing, via Abu Dhabi, for the Chinese New Year holidays this month.
    
Two round trips will be offered during this peak travel period to cater to the strong demand from China, the fastest growing tourism market to Seychelles for the last three consecutive years, said a statement.

The flights will be operated using an Air Seychelles liveried Airbus A330-200 aircraft with 18 business class and 236 economy class seats.

The service will be operated by Etihad Airways and will arrive in Seychelles February 20 and 27.
 
James Hogan, Etihad’s president and chief executive officer, said: “Air Seychelles is a member of Etihad Partners and the collaboration this provides has enabled Etihad Airways to help Air Seychelles capture this opportunity by operating the additional flights.”

Manoj Papa, chief executive officer of Air Seychelles, said: “The additional flights are expected to inject over US$1 million into Seychelles over a two week period, which is a significant contribution to the economy.

“Seychelles has emerged as a popular holiday destination for Chinese tourists. Over 13,000 passengers travelled between the two countries in 2014, with almost 60 per cent of this traffic being carried by our key partner Etihad Airways.

Chen Xiaobing, president of Caissa, said: “China is the fastest-growing source of tourists for the Seychelles, yet the market is largely underserved. Caissa Touristic is delighted to partner with Etihad Airways and Air Seychelles on the launch of these additional flights, which will provide a greater access to a new and emerging destination for Chinese travellers.

“The services have attracted strong demand and the flights will deliver nearly 500 Chinese visitors to the Seychelles during the Chinese Spring Festival. There is definite potential to grow the market with additional services in the coming years.” - TradeArabia News Service