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Air Seychelles, the national airline of the Republic of Seychelles, today marked a major milestone in the development of its flight network with the expansion of its codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways to São Paulo.

As part of this development, the island carrier will now place its “HM” flight code on Etihad Airways’ daily service between São Paulo and Abu Dhabi, making the Brazilian city of nearly 12 million people its first virtual network point in South America, widening its reach to five continents for the first time.

Sampa – as the city is known – is the wealthiest city in the southern hemisphere, known for its round-the-clock nightlife and rich culture, including art-house cinemas, experimental theatre groups and many world-class museums.

Roy Kinnear, Air Seychelles’ Chief Executive Officer, said: “We’re thrilled to add the vibrant city of São Paulo to our growing list of codeshare destinations with Etihad Airways, enabling business and leisure travellers to fly to Seychelles with just one short stop in Abu Dhabi.

“São Paulo has now widened our network footprint to five continents and shows without doubt the power of our codeshare strategy, which has connected our islands to far more cities around the world than we could fly to alone.                                             

“Brazil’s economy and outbound travel market has experienced incredible growth over the last decade, with up to nine million people travelling overseas each year, and with these seven weekly codeshare flights we can look forward to welcoming more visitors to our shores.”

Jöel Morgan, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Transport and Air Seychelles’ Chairman, said: “The partnership between Air Seychelles and Etihad Airways continues to break new ground with the addition of codeshare flights to São Paulo, which has now expanded our brand as a carrier and as a country to the fast-growing South American market, reflecting our continuing efforts to build our presence in emerging travel markets.

“The tourism and cultural links between Brazil and Seychelles have strengthened significantly in recent years and brought our two countries, which share a similarly colourful culture, esprit and charismatic approach to life, much closer together.

“The original home of the carnival, Brazil always sends a samba troupe to the annual International Carnaval de Victoria that takes place in Seychelles, and we look forward to further strengthening such cultural ties with our new air link to São Paulo.”

Air Seychelles and Etihad Airways codeshare flight schedule:

Flight No.

Origin

Departs

Destination

Arrives

Frequency

HM 18

Mahé (SEZ)

20.30h

Abu Dhabi (AUH)

01.00h

Daily

EY 191   (HM 5916)

Abu Dhabi (AUH)

08.45h

São Paulo (GRU)

0.00h

Daily

EY 190   (HM 5917)

São Paulo (GRU)

23.40h

Abu Dhabi (AUH)

20.05h (+1)

Daily

HM 187

Abu Dhabi (AUH)

02.40h

Mahé (SEZ)

07.20h

Daily

*All times local

Guests can book tickets on the above codeshare flights by visiting www.airseychelles.com or etihad.com, through travel agents or calling the Air Seychelles or Etihad Airways contact centres.

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.