UK defense ministry renews Air Seychelles contract to serve Falklands

 The British Ministry of Defense has renewed its contract with Air Seychelles, singling out the satisfactory performance of the airline on its operations to the Falklands Islands.
Air Seychelles Executive Chairman, Captain David Savy has said : “ The UK Ministry of Defence has stated its preference for Air Seychelles to operate the Falklands Airbridge and we have been able to secure the traffic rights to fly between UK and Falklands. This is a good testimony of our very good capability and performance to operate flights from the UK via Ascension Island to the Falklands”.
The UK Ministry of Defence contract awarded to Air Seychelles is to transport UK personnel to the islands of Ascension and Falklands. It is considered a domestic service given that the point of origin in UK and destinations in Falklands and Ascension are all British territories.
In consideration, Air Seychelles utilizes a number of British nationals as flight crew on this particular route.
As a result, Air Seychelles will continue operating twice weekly flights between UK and Falklands as from March 2011.
Speaking in January last year, when Air Seychelles first launched the Falklands Airbridge flights, President James Michel hailed the national airline’s services as a mark of the high standing and the professionalism and dedication of its staff.
President Michel spoke of the increasingly competitive international airline market and saw it encouraging for Air Seychelles to seek to adopt innovative business practices beyond its core business.
‘Innovation is key to Seychelles being ready for the future and we congratulate Air Seychelles for taking the lead in this way” he said in his congratulatory message, last year.
Air Seychelles operates a B767-300ER aircraft which operates from the Brize Norton Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire, England to the Ascension Islands and then on to the Falklands in the South Atlantic, off the southern tip of South America.
Mount Pleasant in the Falklands is one of the southern most aerodromes on our planet and the Falklands is often used as last staging post for expeditions to the Antarctic.
The national airline’s experience of flying 767s to isolated island locations was another major advantage for the renewal of the contract especially Wide Awake airfield on Ascension and the RAF Mount Pleasant airfield on the Falklands are both isolated.
Air Seychelles was also considered the best choice as it is one of the world’s most experienced B767 operators with over 21 years of extended-range operations.

This is how the UK cabin crew treats Air Seychelles Mr. Michel... (photos courtesy of Gustave Decommarmond)