Seychelles International Airport

Seychelles International Airport
Aéroport de la Pointe Larue
IATA: SEZ – ICAO: FSIA
Summary
Airport type Public / Military
Operator SCAA (Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority)
Serves Victoria
Location Victoria, Seychelles
Hub for Air Seychelles
Elevation AMSL 10 ft / 3 m
Coordinates 04°40′27.64″S 55°31′18.67″E / 4.6743444°S 55.5218528°E / -4.6743444; 55.5218528Coordinates: 04°40′27.64″S 55°31′18.67″E / 4.6743444°S 55.5218528°E / -4.6743444; 55.5218528
Website Official website
Map
SEZ

Location of Airport in Seychelles

Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
13/31 9,800 2,987 Concrete
Statistics (2013)
Passengers 736,558
Cargo (metric tonnes) 8,124
Sources: DAFIF,[1] National Bureau of Statistics[2]

Seychelles International Airport (IATA: SEZ, ICAO: FSIA), or Aéroport de la Pointe Larue in French, is the international airport of the Seychelles located on the island of Mahé near the capital city of Victoria. The airport serves as the home base and the head office of Air Seychelles[3] and features several regional and a few long-haul routes due to its importance as an international leisure destination.

Overview

The airport is 11 km southeast of the capital and is accessible by the Victoria-Providence Highway. It forms part of the administrative districts of La pointe Larue (terminal area), Cascade/Providence (in the North) and Anse aux pins (in the south and military base).

A domestic terminal is a short walking distance north of the international terminal and offers inter-island flights with a peak of a departure every 10–15 minutes at busy times which corresponds with international arrivals/departures and every 30 minutes at other times. A cargo terminal is situated south of the international terminal and handles freight from all international and domestic movements; it is run by the national airline Air Seychelles. A military base of the Seychelles Public Defence Force (SPDF) exists at the southeastern end of runway 13 in the south on an island joined with Mahé at the construction of the airport.

History

Early years

The opening of the Seychelles International Airport took place on 20 March 1972 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Wilkenair of Kenya had, however, already started a ferry service between Mombasa and Mahé via Diego Suarez in Madagascar and Astove Island (Seychelles) using a twin engine Piper Navajo the previous year. It operated to the Seychelles once a week.

It was followed by East African Airways in November 1971 and Luxair in December of the same year. A BOAC Super VC10 was the first jet aircraft to land at Seychelles International Airport on 4 July 1971. At the time of the opening it had a 2987 m runway and a control tower. Ground handling and all other airport operations were carried out by the DCA (Directorate of Civil Aviation).

In 1972 John Faulkner Taylor founded the first local aircraft company called Air Mahé, which operated a Piper PA-34 Seneca between Praslin, Fregate and Mahé Islands. This was later replaced by a Britten Norman BN-2AIII Islander. By 1974, over 30 airlines were flying to the Seychelles. Ground handling and all airport operations were being carried out by Aviation Seychelles Company, a company formed in 1973.

Construction works for the substantial expansion of the Seychelles International Airport started in July 1980. Due to the continuous increase in passenger traffic, a terminal building was built that could cater for 400 more arriving and 400 more departing passengers at any time. Parking bays for up to six aircraft were catered for as well as a light aircraft parking area capable of handling five aircraft.

In 1981 there was a gun battle at Seychelles International Airport, as Irishman Mike Hoare led a team of 43 South African mercenaries masquerading as holidaying Rugby players in a coup attempt in what is known as The Seychelles Affair.[4] After their hidden weapons were discovered on arrival a skirmish ensued, with most of the mercenaries later escaping in a hijacked Air India jet.[4]

Development since the 2000s

The years 2005/2006 brought further development to civil aviation in the Seychelles. The Civil Aviation Authority Act was enacted on 4 April 2006 for the corporatisation of the Directorate of Civil Aviation to Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority. Works started to upgrade and extend the terminal building, which has been further extended to handle at least five medium to large jet aircraft (e.g., Boeing 767 or Airbus A330) as well as six smaller jet aircraft (e.g. Boeing 737 or Airbus A320).

Further parking areas were made available to the north-east of the airport to handle the parking of charter, business and long stay aircraft (e.g. some European flights arrive in the morning from 7am but do not depart until 10pm onwards. This reduces jet-lag as any flight that leaves Seychelles at night will get to most Western European cities in the early morning and vice versa from the European cities to the Seychelles; it also provides sufficient rest for operating crew.

The airport has been home to unmanned aerial vehicles operated by the United States Air Force and possibly the Central Intelligence Agency for operations over Somalia and the Horn of Africa. President of Seychelles James Michel apparently welcomed the presence of US drones in Seychelles to combat Somalian piracy and terrorism, dating back to at least August 2009.[5] At least two MQ-9 Reaper UAVs have crashed into the Indian Ocean near the airport since December 2011.[6][7][8]

Airlines and destinations

Apron view
Aerial view
AirlinesDestinations
Air Austral Saint–Denis de la Réunion
Air Seychelles Abu Dhabi, Antananarivo, Beijing–Capital, Durban (begins 30 March 2017),[9] Düsseldorf (begins 30 March 2017),[9] Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo, Mauritius, Mumbai, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Praslin Island
Charter: Alphonse Island, Bird Island, D'Arros Island, Denis Island, Desroches Island, Frégate Island
Arkia Seasonal: Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion
Austrian Airlines Seasonal: Vienna (begins 25 October 2017)[10]
Condor Frankfurt
Emirates Dubai–International
Ethiopian Airlines Addis Ababa
Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi
Kenya Airways Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta
Qatar Airways Doha (resumes 12 December 2016)[11]
SriLankan Airlines Colombo
Sun D'Or
operated by El Al 		Seasonal: Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion
Turkish Airlines Istanbul–Atatürk[12]

Statistics

Year Passengers Change Cargo
International
(Tonnes) 		Change Aircraft
Movements
(International) 		Change
2014[2] 736,558 Increase 1% 8,124 Increase4% 4,774 Decrease6%
2013[13] 726,524 Increase 17% 7,807 Increase32% 5,080 Increase5%
2012[14] 623,017 Decrease8% 5,943 Decrease38% 4,843 Increase8%
2011[15] 674,306 Increase9% 9,613 Increase4% 4,479 Decrease0%
2010[16] 618,675 Increase12% 9,242 Increase18% 4,480 Increase19%
2009[17] 554,408 Decrease12% 7,829 Decrease12% 3,751 Decrease2%
2008[18] 628,504 Decrease9% 8,880 Increase7% 3,832 Increase8%
2007[2][19] 690,661 Increase12% 8,300 Increase21% 3,532 Increase11%
2006 617,348 Increase10% 6,883 Increase12% 3,194 Decrease7%
2005 562,221 Increase1% 6,165 Increase37% 3,446 Increase4%
2004 554,760 Decrease3% 4,515 Decrease13% 3,327 Increase4%
2003 572,512 0% 5,177 0% 3,204 0%

Access

There is frequent service from the bus station in Victoria, with taxi ranks outside the terminal available to all locations on Mahé Island and several tour operator's coach services – namely Creole Travel Services and Mason's travel – which also links passengers to the ferry terminal at the Old Port (Vieux port) for inter-island ferry services and to the New Port (Nouveau port) for cruise holidays.

There is plan to link the airport with a light railway/tram system which will run along the east coast of Mahé island due to the high transportation density of this area. Companies were invited to tender in 2007 by the government.

References

  1. ↑ from DAFIF
  2. 1 2 3 http://www.nbs.gov.sc/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Seychelles-in-Figures-2015-edition1.pdf
  3. ↑ "Offices & GSAs head Office." Air Seychelles. Retrieved on 29 January 2011 "Head Office Air Seychelles Ltd Head Office International Airport P.O. Box 386 Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles."
  4. 1 2 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/africaandindianocean/seychelles/732553/Seychelles-Lifes-a-breeze-near-the-equator.html
  5. ↑ Zenko, Micah (27 March 2012). "We Can't Drone Our Way to Victory in Afghanistan". Foreign Policy.
  6. ↑ Thande, George (4 April 2012). "Drone crashes in Seychelles, second in four months". Reuters. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  7. ↑ "US Drone Crashes on Seychelles Runway". ABC News. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  8. ↑ "Secret bases mark step-up in War on Terror". UPI. 22 September 2011.
  9. 1 2 Air Seychelles announces major expansion in Europe and Indian Ocean in 2017 4 November 2016
  10. ↑ "Austrian Airlines Flies to the Seychelles". Aviation Tribune. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  11. ↑ "QATAR Airways Plans New Routes from August 2016". airlineroute. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  12. ↑ "Turkish Airlines Adds Seychelles Service from late-Oct 2016". airlineroute. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  13. ↑ http://www.nsb.gov.sc/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Seychelles-In-Figures-2012_2013-Edition.pdf
  14. ↑ http://www.nsb.gov.sc/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Seychelles-In-Figures-2012-Edition.pdf
  15. ↑ Values used from publication: Seychelles in Figures 2011
  16. ↑ Values used from publication: Seychelles in Figures 2010
  17. ↑ Values used from publication: Seychelles in Figures 2009
  18. ↑ Values used from publication: Seychelles in Figures 2008
  19. ↑ Values used from publication: Seychelles in Figures 2007

Media related to Seychelles International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.