Seychelles’ national carrier, Air Seychelles, started operating twice weekly flights to Colombo after it made its inaugural flight on Tuesday, June 20th.
The airline operates the twice-weekly flights from Seychelles to Colombo on Tuesdays and Saturdays and returns on Wednesdays and Sundays.
The airline’s inaugural flight on its Airbus A320, which landed at Bandaranaike International, had 110 passengers onboard.
In a press statement from the airline, Sandy Benoiton, acting chief executive of Air Seychelles, said that Colombo is one of the largest markets not served by a nonstop flight from the Indian Ocean region.
“Seychellois love coming to Sri Lanka for a number of reasons, with tourism and medical being at the top of the list. Additionally, there is a large number of Sri Lankans working in Seychelles, primarily in hospitality and construction, all in need of easier access to their home country,” he explained.
Benoiton added that “currently, to fly between Seychelles and Sri Lanka, travellers must go via one of the Gulf carriers, which can take 10-12 hours of journey time, and at considerable expense. Our nonstop flight allows for a journey of approximately four hours in total.”
According to Air Seychelles, the Colombo service will also offer over 20+ connections through a future partnership with SriLankan Airlines.
“Once fully implemented, this will allow for a convenient one-stop connection to numerous destinations in India, Bangladesh, and top tourist spots such as Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Tokyo as well as highly requested Australian cities, namely Melbourne and Sydney,” said the airline.
