First commercial flight of Emirates lands with tourists and Seychellois in the Seychelles
Press release from 01.08.2020
170 passengers - both visitors and Seychellois - landed on Saturday on board the first commercial passenger flight since the COVID-induced travel interruption.
Emirates flight EK705 from Dubai landed at 6.30 in the morning, the first aircraft to arrive after the Seychelles reopened its borders on 1 August.
The international Airport of the Seychelles was closed in March due to travel restrictions on commercial passenger flights to stem the spread of COVID-19 in the 115-island state in the Western Indian Ocean.
In accordance with the security protocols established by the Health and Civil Aviation Authority of the Seychelles (SCAA), passengers were asked to leave the aircraft in batches of 30 in order to follow the usual procedures at immigration counters.
In addition, each passenger had their temperature checked and examined for COVID-19-related symptoms.
Media representatives were not allowed to talk to passengers.
Tourism Minister Didier Dogley told the assembled reporters that the process is a bit slow, as this is the first time these procedures have been implemented.
"We expected things to be slow in the beginning because this is the first time, but as the week goes on, people will be able to move a little faster. Above all, we want to make sure that everything is done right," Dogley said.
He explained that the workers at the airport all wore masks, maintained the recommended social distance and practiced good hygiene.
"They are not afraid, as we might have expected them to be. They take their work seriously and trust in what they do and that is the key for us. We are on the right track," Dogley said.
He explained that his ministry will probably be informed on Monday how things went for each authority present at the reopening of the airport.
In addition to officials working with passengers, a group of representatives from destination management companies, hotels and taxi drivers were also present to take passengers to their respective accommodation.
Barry Pillay, a taxi driver, said in an interview that he was proud and happy to be back at work.
"I hope that everything goes well and everyone gets a chance to do their job. When it comes to wearing masks and practicing good hygiene, we attended a seminar last Saturday that was very interesting. I am more than ready to put into practice everything I have learned," said Pillay.
A second commercial passenger flight will land in Seychelles around 6pm as Air Seychelles returns from Mauritius.
Author: Karl Schnürch
In 2007 I started the website Seychelles.com to write everything I experienced from my head. Since then I have been constantly optimizing and expanding Seychelles.com to eventually present a complete picture of Seychelles on this site.
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