Direct Flights to Seychelle Islands Begin

Israel now has a direct air connection with the Seychelle Islands. After months of negotiations, the first flight of Air Seychelles landed in Ben Gurion airport on Wednesday, and returned home later in the day. The six-hour twenty-minute flight to the islands leaves at 11:55 p.m. Wednesday, and arrives in Israel at 9:50 p.m.

The flights are conducted on an Airbus 320-200 plane, with 168 seats, 12 of them in business class. According to the airline, the maiden flight to Israel was full. The round-trip fare is $799 for full service, including an allocation of two suitcases per passenger. An island nation, the Seychelles are located in the Indian Ocean, northeast of Madagascar and about 1,600 km (994 mi) east of Kenya.

“This is a historic moment, seeing our plane over Tel Aviv and building a human bridge between our two nations,” said Air Seychelles CEO Remco Altus. “We are very pleased to see the enthusiasm for travel to Seychelles by the Israeli public, with all seats on the flight spoken for. We hope to increase the number of flights in time for the summer 2020 travel season,” he said.