(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles, an island nation in the western Indian Ocean, relies heavily on the tourism industry to sustain its economy.  

The good news for the archipelago’s economy and tourists looking for a beautiful beach getaway is that several airlines have increased their flight frequency to Seychelles over the last two years.

SNA looks at 10 airlines connecting Seychelles to the rest of the world. 

1. Qatar Airways

The airline’s first flight to Seychelles was in December 2004. It ceased its operations in the island nation in September 2013. Qatar Airways resumed flight to Seychelles in December 2016 and operates daily flights using an Airbus 320.

(Patrick Joubert, Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

2. Turkish Airlines 

The airline started operating flights to Seychelles in October last year. Turkish Airlines will operate flights to Seychelles on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. The flight linking Istanbul to the islands lasts seven and a half hour on an A330-200. 

3. SriLankan Airlines

SriLankan Airlines replaced Mihin Lanka, which had been flying the Seychelles-Colombo route from November 2013 to October 2016. It started four flights per week to the island nation in November 2016.

(Joena Bonnelame, Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

4. Ethiopian Airlines

Ethiopian Airlines which had operated three weekly flights to Seychelles from Addis Ababa for just over a year, before withdrawing on March 1, 2014, for profitability reasons, resumed service to Seychelles at the end of September 2015. Ethiopian Airlines added two more weekly flights, making it five in total. The airline is expecting to add a sixth flight in December.

5. Emirates Airline

Emirates started operations to the Seychelles in 2005 and in June 2015 it increased its capacity to the Seychelles when it switched from the Airbus 330-200 used on one of the two daily services to a larger Boeing 777-300ER. The airline connects the Seychelles twice daily to Dubai and has 14 flights per week.

(Emirates Airline) Photo License: CC-BY

6. Air Seychelles 

Established in 1977, the Seychelles’ flag carrier maintains a strategic partnership with the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, Etihad Airways. Air Seychelles offers international flights to Abu Dhabi, Antananarivo, Johannesburg, Mauritius, Mumbai, Düsseldorf and Paris. 

(Air Seychelles) Photo License: CC-BY

7. Condor

A leisure airline from Germany, Condor connects Seychelles to Frankfurt in Germany twice a week. Flights from Germany are on Tuesdays and Fridays and return from Seychelles on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  

(Ken Fielding, Wikimedia) Photo License: CC BY-SA 3.0

8. Kenya Airways

The airline has been operating flights to the Seychelles over the past 38 years. Kenya Airways currently operates four-weekly direct flights from Nairobi to Mahe on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

9. Air Austral

This airline connects Seychelles with Reunion, a French department in the Indian Ocean. Air Austral operates two flights per week -- Fridays and Sundays -- from Saint-Denis to Mahe Island. The route is serviced by a Boeing 737.

(Alec Wilson, Wikimedia) Photo License: CC BY-SA 2.0

10. Etihad Airways

This airline began operations in November 2011 and operates a combination of two-class Airbus A330 and A320 aircraft on the route. Etihad links Abu Dhabi to Seychelles with seven flights per week.

(Alex Beltyukov) Photo license: CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported