Edelweiss AirSeychelles is set to get direct, non-stop air service with a third German-speaking country when Switzerland’s leisure airline, Edelweiss Air, begins flights to the island nation next year.
Edelweiss Air will be offering regular non-stop service from its base, Zurich airport to Mahé, during the European winter season next year, beginning on September 22, 2018.
The airline made the announcement on Thursday 30 November 2017.
The flights will depart Zurich on Saturdays at 7.20pm touching down on Mahé on Sundays at 7.40 in the morning. The return flight to Switzerland is on Sundays, departing Mahé at 11.05 at night, reaching Zurich on Mondays at 6.10 in the morning.
Edelweiss Air is an affiliate of Swiss International Air Lines and a member of the Lufthansa Group. It operates a global network of 66 destinations in 32 countries.
Boasting a fleet of fifteen Airbus planes, the once-weekly flight service between Switzerland and Seychelles will be done by one of its four Airbus A340-300, with a capacity of 314 seats. This includes 27 lie-flat Business class seats and 76 ‘Economy Max’ seats.
Edelweiss passengers are granted 23 kg of sports luggage — including surfboards, SCUBA gear, golf equipment, and bicycles — at no extra charge, which makes the airline very attractive to active vacationers.
The Chief Executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), Sherin Francis said: “Having yet another airline announce the launch of direct flights to Seychelles, clearly demonstrates how the buoyancy of the various source markets have created confidence in the travel world. It is a development that will be warmly welcome by the travel trade and the airline knows that it can count on our support for the success of the new route.”
The Seychelles route is currently served by German leisure airline, Condor, which operates from Frankfurt. Austria has also seen a substantial increase in passengers, since Austrian Airlines launched its non-stop weekly service from Vienna–Mahé at the end of October. A total of 7,687 visitors from Austria have disembarked in Seychelles up to December 3 this year – this represents a 32 percent increase over the 2016 figures.
The STB’s Regional Manager for Germany, Austria & Switzerland, Edith Hunzinger said: “I am very satisfied and amazed with the outcome of our small office; achieved through the hard work and great trade support during the past years, especially now that we will have four non-stop flights to Seychelles from all three German-speaking countries. During the European winter season – the peak season for Seychelles travel – we will now have two weekly flights from Frankfurt on Condor, one from Vienna on Austrian and one from Zurich on Edelweiss. All three countries are currently among the top ten source markets for Seychelles in terms of visitor arrivals, and the additional capacities will hopefully give us an extra boost.”
Germany, which has been the Seychelles’ leading source market since mid-year, has sent 47,772 visitors to the island nation from January to December 3, 2017. This represents a 29 percent increase over last year when Germany sent 37,029 visitors to the island nation.
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