Emirates increases capacity to Seychelles

Emirates Airline is set to increase its capacity to the Seychelles, when it switches from the current Airbus 330-200 used on one of the two daily services to a larger Boeing 777-300ER from June 1.

The introduction of the Emirates Boeing 777-300ER, which operates as flight EK 705 from Dubai and as EK 706 on the return flight, will increase overall capacity on the route by 1,722 seats per week and will make the route an all-Boeing 777 operation.

"The Seychelles is a very popular leisure destination, and we have experienced consistent growth on the route since we started operations to the island on 1st January 2005, with three weekly flights using an Airbus A330-200. Since then, we have had to gradually increase our frequencies and deploy larger aircraft to meet growing demand, and now, 10 years later, starting from 1st June we will have two Boeing 777s on the route," said Orhan Abbas, Emirates Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Latin America, Central and Southern Africa.

"The island draws a lot of leisure travellers from across our network, with many coming from the Middle East, Europe and Russia. In 2014, Emirates carried well in excess of 200,000 customers to and from the Seychelles," he added.

"The announcement by Emirates that they will be introducing a second Boeing 777 on the Seychelles route is indeed good news for the tourism industry of our islands. This announcement also guarantees our visitors that they can now enjoy the Dubai – Seychelles service with three classes on both Emirates flights every day. We take this opportunity to thank Emirates for their continued support and for believing in the tourism industry of Seychelles," said Alain St. Ange, Minister of Tourism and Culture of the Seychelles.

The larger aircraft also opens up additional cargo capacity of over 80 tonnes per week on the route, facilitating further trade opportunities between Seychelles and Emirates global network of more than 140 destinations.

Emirates flight EK 705 departs Dubai at 02:05 hours and arrives in the Seychelles at 06:45 hours. The return flight, EK 706, departs at 08:15 hours and arrives in Dubai at 12:45hours. The second daily flight, EK 707, leaves Dubai at 08:40 hours and arrives in the Seychelles at 13:20 hours. The return flight, EK 708, departs 23:55 hours and arrives in Dubai the next morning at 04:25 hours.

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