The island nation of Seychelles known for its huge tourism potential  will reap from its efforts at post Covid growth as Emirates Airlines reveal plans to boost its flight schedule to the country over the peak holiday period. From December 24th to January 9th, the airline will look to fly to the island nation twice each day, doubling capacity on the route.

Twenty-one months after the pandemic began impacting the aviation industry, people are keen to see family and friends or to book a getaway over this year’s festive season. Airlines from Finnair to Qatar and more are boosting their schedules over the coming weeks to deal with the increase in demand. Now Emirates is joining that list.

Today, Emirates revealed that it would be boosting its flights from Dubai to Mahe in Seychelles for around two weeks. From December 24th, the daily flight will be boosted to twice daily, with the additional rotation running through to January 9th.

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The additional flight will leave Dubai as EK 707 at 10:20 in the morning. It is scheduled to touch down in Mahe at 14:55 and will remain at the airport overnight. The return flight, EK 706, is expected to depart from Seychelles at 08:35 the following day, landing in Dubai at 13:10.

The boosted schedule means that Emirates will need at least two Boeing 777s to facilitate the additional rotation. The airline’s entire Boeing 777 fleet has already been back in action for a large part of the year. This has meant that when Emirates wants to (re)add or increase services to an airport, an Airbus A380 typically needs to be brought out of storage. This will either go directly on the service in question or on a higher-demand route to free up another 777.

According to data from ch-aviation.com, Emirates currently has 120 Airbus A380 aircraft, with two retired and one more to be delivered. Of these 120, roughly half have been reactivated. This is an impressive feat, given how many other carriers have shunned the giant of the skies since the onset of the pandemic.

Also, Emirates is expected to take delivery of its final Airbus A380 order. This won’t just be a milestone for the Dubai-based carrier, though. It is also the last Airbus A380 to be built by Airbus, ending an era for the European planemaker.

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With the end of the A350 program in sight, Airbus’ largest product will become the A350. Deliveries of the single deck widebody will replace deliveries of the Airbus A380, with Emirates expecting 50 of the jet as things currently stand.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry