11 hours on an A320neo: Air Seychelles launches Mahé to Rome flights amid Gulf airspace closures
March 21, 2026
Air Seychelles has announced it will be launching flights between Mahé and Rome Fiumicino Airport on an Airbus A320neo, its second European route announcement in less than two weeks. The services will take up to 11-hours to complete according to the carrier’s booking website, including a stopover in Hurghada, Egypt.
The company revealed last week that it would be temporarily resuming services to Paris on a leased Etihad Airways Boeing 787 in light of Gulf airspace closures. Though it has been looking at a return to the long-haul segment, launching flights in this fashion was not necessarily in its plans.
With barely a month lead time, the new routes are primarily aimed at point-to-point travellers forced to avoid any of the major West Asian hubs like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.
Air Seychelles launches flights to Rome
Air Seychelles announced in a statement published on social media that it will be launching flights to Rome with a technical stopover in Hurghada. It says that the new route, which will begin on 28 March and will run until the 29 April, comes at a “critical time for the tourism industry and aims to ensure continued and reliable access for travellers to and from Seychelles.” The service will operate twice-weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays using an Airbus A320neo aircraft.
Information from planespotters.net shows that the carrier has two examples in its fleet, each configured with 156 economy and 12 business class seats. One example was delivered in July 2019, while the second followed a year later in March 2020.
The company described the Italian market as one of the island nation’s “most important tourism source markets in Europe” and highlighted that it contributes a “significant share of visitor arrivals to the destination.”
According to information from aviation analytics firm Cirium, in the early-2000s Air Seychelles operated a Boeing 767 between Rome Fiumicino and the Seychelles. It was replaced by Italian leisure operator Blue Panorama Airlines in February 2012, but this operation only lasted until September that year. No carrier has offered regular passenger flights between the two since then.
“Maintaining strong and reliable air links with this market is particularly important at this time,” the airline added in its statement this week, “as global travel patterns continue to be affected by the ongoing conflict in the region, which has led to the closure of parts of Gulf airspace and the temporary suspension of services by several major Gulf carriers that traditionally provide key connections to Seychelles.”
It also pointed to the economic impact of the route, noting that the service is “vital” to support hotels, tourism operators and the wider Seychellois economy.
Air Seychelles extends Paris operation until the end of May
Last week, Air Seychelles revealed that it would be leasing a Boeing 787 to operate flights to Paris. The route is also temporary, initially meant to fly from the end of March until the end of April. However, the carrier announced this week that it would be extending this until 31 May.
Paris flights will run three times per week, with the possibility of expanding this with an additional weekly frequency the company has previously said. Services to the French capital will run with no technical stopover, as the 787 it is using is capable of flying non-stop.
This will also mark the carrier’s first time using widebody aircraft since it retired its leased Airbus A330s during a restructuring programme in 2018.
Featured image: Airbus
