L’AIR DEZIL

The rise of the cartels

The newly baptized ‘L’Air Dezil’ is a 50% joint venture between Zil Air & Helicopter Seychelles. We can call this the merging of two key magnates in the local business sphere. Francis Savy (Ti Francis) is considered as a local ‘prince’ in the fields of real estate development and aviation ambitions. His Zil Air helicopter operation was created to feed his property developments of Zil Pasyon, Zilwa and other ‘je ne sais quoi’! His new partner is the one and only Fred Keeley. Mr. Gondwana Granite, who also owns Cousine and other trophies, created Helicopter Seychelles to service his island and got into the business of ferrying high end clientele to the likes of Fregate and North Islands – he recently adventured into co-piloting the arrival of the new baby, the Augusta flown in all the way from the UK. The joint venture is the consolidation of the veteran and ‘new kid on the block’ business empires which effectively kills off competition and creates a monopoly. Some would say it is the creation of a cartel in this sector of our aviation industry.

The main reason for this ‘genius’ idea given by the official source is that it will standardize the operation, offering additional services which will inevitably lead to higher costs. The fact remains that helicopters are an expensive mode of transportation and is only affordable to the rich and famous. With the influx of Arab, Russian, South African, Chinese and other investments, there will no doubt be a huge demand for such services. Indeed, a 24 hour service will benefit this type of clientele who operate more in the darkest hours to safeguard their ‘safety & security’.

It is also interesting to note that the merger provides an upgraded fleet of aircraft with a mix of the old and the new. However the same rates for a seat in a new aircraft applies to the older aircraft. There is no doubt that this new company is poised to secure the complete control of the helicopter market. Unless James Michel has another fantasy idea and invites Sheik Khalifa to start his own helicopter venture... At least this time if Francis could not lend his brother Glenny the Euro Copter to collect eggs on Desnoeufs, the Sheik might be able to provide one with floatation landing gear for the next birds’ egg season.