Air Seychelles is bringing back its flights connecting Johannesburg and Maldives due to popular demand. The weekly service will run from June to October and again in December and January.
According to the airline’s website, flight HM1124 will depart from Johannesburg at 21h10 every Friday and arrive in Mahé in the Seychelles at 04h05 the next morning. Guests will stay on the aircraft during the short transit stop, departing an hour later on HM124 at 05h05 to arrive in Malé in the Maldives at 09h15. HM123 departs from Malé on Fridays at 11h35, arriving in the Seychelles at 13h40. Flight HM1123 departs Seychelles at 14h50 and arrives in Johannesburg at 17h55.
A spokesperson from Air Seychelles said the airline was excited to relaunch the flights to a sought- after destination that was welcoming South African travellers. “The flight takes nine hours in total from Johannesburg to the Maldives, does not require passengers to leave the cabin or change aircraft and is the fastest way to reach the island destination,” she added.
Director of Holiday Packages by AfricaStay, Marian Sandu, told Travel News that it had made a significant investment in these flights, taking out block bookings with both Air Seychelles and its partner resorts in the Maldives, and that they expected the reintroduction of the flights to be a great success.
“The Maldives is open to South African travellers and only requires a negative PCR test to enter the country. As clients do not disembark from the plane in the Seychelles, there are no entry requirements imposed. Travellers will need to obtain another PCR test in the Maldives to re-enter South Africa. In most cases these tests can be done in the resorts and cost USD60-100 (R857-R1 430) per test. At present many resorts are offering specials that also include the cost of this test in the package price,” said Marian.
“To improve consumer booking confidence we also have a guarantee in place whereby, if borders close in South Africa or in the Maldives, we will offer clients full refunds for both the hotel and airfare portion of the package less a small fee for agent commission,” he added.
Product manager of Holiday Packages by AfricaStay, Jacqui Carr, said the Maldives resorts were offering unheard-of specials to coincide with the Air Seychelles flight periods. She said this meant that customers could book a package from around R21 000 per person, inclusive of flights, taxes, transfers, and seven nights’ accommodation at a four-star resort such as the Sandies Bathala Maldives on a fully inclusive basis. Five-star fully inclusive packages at properties such as the Diamonds Athuruga Maldives Resort were coming in at around R25 000 per person sharing.
“There are so many excellent-value packages available for families too,” said Jacqui, explaining that many of the packages included offers where kids could fly, stay and sometimes even transfer free, only paying for airport taxes in many cases.
“The June to October flights coincide with low-season pricing in Maldives and, while clients may expect some short sharp showers to cool things down, it is still pleasant to travel at this time of year, while taking advantage of the best possible prices,” she said.
