RuAviation

During a meeting on the margins of the second Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg between Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov and Seychelles Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism Sylvester Radegonde, the guest asked Russia to increase the number of flights between Russia and Seychelles, the press service of the Russian ministry reported.

“The current 30-day mutual visa-free regime, regular direct air service Moscow-Mahe, as well as friendly relations between Russia and Seychelles will be a good basis for further increase in mutual tourist flow,” Reshetnikov said at the meeting.

In turn, Sylvester Radegonde, given the great mutual interest of tourists of the two countries, asked for assistance in increasing the number of flights between Russia and Seychelles.

A possible increase in the number of direct flights between Russian cities and the capital of Seychelles on the island of Mahe was commented to our website by Oleg Evdokimov, General Director of ATEO Air, an expert on the aviation market of the Gulf and Middle East.

“Given the shortage of aircraft in Russia, it would be much more rational not to use Russian aircraft to increase traffic between Russia and Seychelles, but to attract Russian investments for the development of Seychelles Airlines. Introduce A321LR aircrafts into the carrier’s fleet, which freely fly from Seychelles to Sochi,” Oleg Evdokimov believes.

The expert explained that Air Seychelles aircraft could be used to send everyone from different Russian cities via the Sochi air hub. “This could be both an investment in specific aircraft, a specific project, and global investment in Seychelles Airlines in exchange for shares in the airline,” Oleg Yevdokimov added.

In 2021, Russia became the main “supplier” of tourists to the archipelago, contributing to the rapid recovery of Seychelles’ tourism business after the pandemic, which is one of the main pillars of the country’s economy. In 2022, 30,500 Russian tourists visited Seychelles, with Russia ranking third in terms of tourist traffic after Germany and France. In total, more than 330 thousand foreign tourists arrived to the archipelago.