New
BOEING 737/700NG operates on the Indian Ocean routes.
Victoria,
November 22nd 2001
Air
Seychelles' new Boeing 737-700 aircraft, named Amirantes, is
expected to touchdown at Seychelles International Airport at
around 9 a.m. on Saturday morning.
The national airline took delivery of its newest and first Boeing 737-700
yesterday following a signing ceremony at the Boeing headquarters in
Seattle, Washington, yesterday.
Air Seychelles' Chief Executive, Captain David Savy, who is leading
a high level delegation of airline and civil aviation officials formally
signed legal documentation and finalised details to accept the new
aircraft from the International Lease Finance Corporation(ILFC).
ILFC is an aircraft leasing company, which like for the other two Boeing
767-300ER aircraft, is leasing the new 737-700Next Generation to Air
Seychelles.
The B737 aircraft left Seattle last night and will make a stop-over
in Shannon, Ireland for crew rest followed by a technical stop in Luxor,
Egypt before arriving here on Saturday morning.
As the newest aircraft of the national airline's international fleet,
the Boeing 737-700NG is designed for passenger comfort and to strengthen
reliability.The aircraft has two CFM56 engines supplied by CFM International.
The 126-seater aircraft , which will begin operating on the national
airline's regional network as from December 1st, has been fitted in
with interior design features reflecting the Creole atmosphere and
the lay-out of the seating configuration of 12 Pearl Class seats and
114 Economy Class seats.
The new Air Seychelles' B737-700 aircraft boasts new overhead bins
that are custom-designed to handle greater volume including roll-aboard
luggage and a completely redesigned passenger cabin which will no doubt
win praise for its spaciousness, comfort and design.
Captain Savy has said: " We decided to take on the B737-700 in
order to satisfy the growing needs of our passengers to travel over
longer distances in comfort. It is also always nice to acquire a new
plane, as this is the premier element of a modern fleet".
The arrival of the new Boeing 737-700 aircraft will allow the national
carrier to provide passengers with more frequent flights on its regional
route network which operates to Johannesburg, Dubai, Mauritius and
the new services to Mumbai, Maldives, Mayotte and the Comores.
The name Amirantes was selected from a list of names proposed by Air
Seychelles staff following a company-wide "name the aircraft" competition.
Meanwhile, Air Seychelles is organising a visit of the new aircraft
for all its staff and their families this weekend and will host the
local tourism and travel trade and other dignitaries to a similar visit
next Friday.
Managers
and Air Seychelles representatives from all over the world
discover the new Boeing 737 after its first landing at
Mahe airport.
