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Air Seychelles, the national airline of the Republic of Seychelles, today announced that two of the three aircraft it has ordered from Canada’s Viking Air will arrive in mid-2014, one year ahead of schedule.

Last October, Air Seychelles placed an order for three Viking Air DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400 aircraft in a multi-million dollar deal which will enable the island carrier to renew its domestic fleet. Deliveries were scheduled for mid-2015, with earlier advancement possible if newly built aircraft became available.

Air Seychelles now plans to welcome the new Twin Otters in July, following which, the aircraft will enter into service between Mahé and Praslin, as well as other islands in the archipelago, including Bird, Denis, D’Arros, and Frégate.

The third Twin Otter aircraft is expected to arrive in the third quarter of 2015. All three new aircraft are part of a phased business plan to refresh the Twin Otter DHC6 fleet.

Manoj Papa, Chief Executive Officer of Air Seychelles, said: “Air Seychelles’ international and domestic operations continue to move from strength to strength, and the arrival of these new aircraft into our fleet ahead of schedule marks a great milestone in our growth plan.

“They will form the backbone of a rejuvenated Air Seychelles domestic fleet, secure the future of our inter-island services, and help to cement Seychelles tourism and the local economy. 

Our domestic flying business also offers a great career path for Seychellois. This year we are training five new domestic pilots and have promoted two First Officers to Captains. In the past two years, eight domestic pilots have moved on to train on the Airbus A330-200 at Etihad Airways’ modern Training Academy in Abu Dhabi.

Twin Otters were first introduced by Air Seychelles in the early 1980s and the airline currently operates three DHC-6 Series 300 aircraft and 1 DHC-6 Series 400 aircraft.

The 19-seat twin engine Pratt & Whitney PT6A-34 aircraft are manufactured by Viking Air in British Columbia, Canada. Air Seychelles placed orders for the aircraft last October due to their robustness and suitability for short sector flying, capacity to land on rugged, short airstrips, and their ability to operate in a saline and humid environment.

Air Seychelles is currently in the process of planning welcome festivities to mark the arrival of the Twin Otters.

About Air Seychelles

The Seychelles’ national carrier has been flying for over 45 years. Wholly owned by the Government of Seychelles, the carrier operates regionally from its home in Mahe to Tel Aviv, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Mauritius, and Colombo with state- of-the-art Airbus A320NEOs. Domestically, the carrier operates up to 30 roundtrips a day to Praslin, the second largest island in the archipelago, along with various charters to other islands on its twin-otter fleet.

In 2023, Air Seychelles was awarded the coveted titles of ‘World’s Leading Airline to the Indian Ocean’, at the 30th edition of the World Travel Awards as well as, ‘Indian Ocean’s Leading Airline Economy Class’ and ‘Indian Ocean’s Leading Airline Brand’

 

Information contained in this press release is accurate at the time of publication.