Air Seychelles Cargo records 70% increase in volumes from March to June

July 14, 2021: Between March and June 2021, Air Seychelles handled a total of 2,612.45 tonnes of combined import and export cargo, resulting in a 70 percent increase in volumes compared to the same period in 2020.

A total of 741.41 tonnes of cargo were exported out of Seychelles composed mainly of fish products, whilst the total of 1 871.04 tonnes of imported cargo included mostly perishable items.

The increase in demand over the past four months has seen Air Seychelles handle a total of 1077.64 tonnes of cargo in excess versus 1534.81 tonnes in 2020.

The strong performance driven by a surge in wide bodied aircraft operating to the island from Eastern Europe, the United Arab Emirates, the Middle East and Western Asia following the reopening of Seychelles to global markets, also entailed a rigorous programme of efficiency improvements implemented by the cargo team.

Juliette Pascal, head of cargo operations at Air Seychelles said, “Air cargo continues to play an important role in supporting the country’s supply chain and over these past four months we have done our best to meet the needs of the importers and exporters both locally and internationally. Despite the challenges being experienced, to increase efficiencies and service reliability, we have introduced an agreed timeline with suppliers for the delivery and pick-up of time sensitive cargo such as pharmaceuticals and perishables to ensure the quality and freshness of the products are maintained.”

He also noted that due to the pandemic causing a reduction in travelling and ongoing restrictions at certain destinations, Air Seychelles, the Global Service Partner for FedEx is also witnessing a huge increase in imported small packages from the United States of America and China.