· After the lapse of more than a year, Turkish Airlines has resumed regular flights between Istanbul and Seychelles.
· The flights were stopped in March last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After the lapse of more than a year, Turkish Airlines has resumed regular flights between Istanbul and Seychelles. The flights were stopped in March last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seychelles reopened its border on March 25 this year. Turkish Airlines announced that it will resume services with two weekly flights on Tuesdays and Fridays. After the suspension of passenger flights during that one-year period, the airline was catering to the market with ad-hoc cargo flights to the island nation.
The resumption of flights between Istanbul and Seychelles is viewed as a major step to revive Seychelles’ tourism sector, the lifeline of its economy. It is expected to restore confidence in the market. The chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), Sherin Francis, hailed the resumption of Turkey’s national airline is an important milestone for Seychelles. Turkish Airlines offer diverse connections and frequencies and is well connected with Central and Eastern Europe. The island country is targeting these markets as tourists from Western Europe have dropped. Currently, UAE, Israel and Russia are the strongest markets.
In a press release from STB, spokesman of the Turkish Airlines for Seychelles, said that the airlines is pleased with the demand from Central and Eastern Europe so far.
Since the re-opening of Seychelles’ borders to commercial passenger flights in March, five carriers – Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines, Qatar Airways, Aeroflot, EL AL and Arkia Israeli airlines – have announced their services. Air Seychelles is already flying regular international flights to various points.
