Air Seychelles and airberlin have signed a codeshare agreement that will allow customers to fly seamlessly between Germany and Seychelles via Abu Dhabi.
The codeshare will give European travellers immediate access to 38 flights a week to Seychelles from the German hubs of Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich.
Total weekly flights between Germany and Seychelles will increase to 54 when the new Etihad Airways and Air Seychelles schedules take effect from March 24.
“More than 28,000 German tourists visited Seychelles in 2012, a 20% increase over 2011. Germany is among our island’s fastest growing markets so these new air links are vital to our tourism sector,” said Cramer Ball, Air Seychelles CEO.
“Our partnership with our 40%shareholder, Etihad Airways, is driving new growth as we capitalise not only on economies of scale but also their relationships with other airlines. We can work together to identify partners, which will optimally expand the reach of Air Seychelles across the globe, airberlin being a prime example,” continued Ball.
Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO of airberlin, said: "The codeshare agreement with Air Seychelles is equally important for airberlin in a number of ways. Firstly, we are able to make our route network even more attractive by enhancing the number of weekly codeshare connections to the Seychelles. Secondly, the new agreement once again illustrates the enormous potential that the partnership with Etihad Airways offers in terms of the joint marketing of the route network and the targeted use of synergies across all areas."
Subject to regulatory approval, the airlines plan to expand the scope of the agreement to include more destinations on their respective networks and implement frequent flyer programme reciprocity. The two airlines are both members of the Etihad Airways strategic equity alliance, with the Abu Dhabi-based airline holding a 40% stake in Air Seychelles and 29.21% stake in airberlin.
