(Seychelles News Agency) - A first in a series of charter flights between Seychelles and Romania landed at the Pointe Larue International airport on Friday morning.

The eight-hour non-stop flight operated by Air Seychelles' A320neo jetliner with 162 passengers landed at 9.50am. 

The flag carrier of Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, will operate a series of new charter flights from Romania's capital city and most important commercial center, Bucharest, from Friday, April 30 to Monday, May 17, 2021.

The chief executive of Air Seychelles, Remco Althuis, said that due to the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, passenger’s desire for more direct flights has become even more vital.

“We are thrilled to now be linking Bucharest with Seychelles for the first time, again fulfilling on our mandate to increase tourism to Seychelles. Based on the success we have seen so far with this market, we anticipate more of these charters later in the year. As Air Seychelles is also constantly exploring new potential source markets, we look forward to announcing additional destinations in the near future.

To support the tourism industry, the top contributor to the Seychelles' economy, and to further build the link between Bucharest and the island nation, Air Seychelles will also operate additional charter services in August and December on this route.

On her side, Sherin Francis, the chief executive of the Seychelles Tourism Board who has been nominated as the Principal Secretary of Tourism, thanked the national airline for helping in making the destination more accessible to visitors.

“We have noticed since last year pent up demand from the Eastern European countries. Air connectivity is crucial to help us convert those demands into sales of holidays to Seychelles. Thanks to Air Seychelles, we have managed to tap into this opportunity and we hope to be able to grow the business further from other countries of the same region together with our national airline,” she added.

With the aim of relaunching its tourism industry, Seychelles reopened its borders on March 24 to all visitors except those directly from South Africa. However, the island nation has recently issued new travel measures for certain countries in view of the worsening of COVID-19 outbreaks, including Brazil, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.