Air Seychelles introduces lie-flat seats in Pearl Class

Alain St.Ange, the CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board and eTurboNews ambassador, has welcomed the move by Air Seychelles to introduce lie-flat seats in its Pearl Class. Air Seychelles is revolutionizing its business class service by introducing lie-flat seats in Pearl Class on its B767-300 planes.

From October 4, passengers traveling Pearl Class from Seychelles to Charles de Gaulle, Paris, will be among the first to experience the improved seats. Other routes to benefit will be Rome, Milan, and London. The airline has confirmed that by the end of November, it will have equipped all three of its B767-300 aircraft with the state-of-the-art Sicma Majesty lie-flat seats. A number of other airlines that have fitted these seats are marketing the product as first class, but Air Seychelles will be the only carrier offering this level of comfort non-stop between Europe and Seychelles.

Potential clients were able to inspect the seats recently when Air Seychelles presented them at France’s top trade fair, Top Resa, in Paris where they were highly acclaimed by travel specialists. The airline has had its Pearl Class cabin extended and newly configured to accommodate the 24 larger, lie-flat seats.

To achieve this, a full row of economy class seats has had to be removed. The Majesty seat allows for a wide range of positions to give a superior level of comfort and versatility for the passenger. It also offers other features including built-in massage functions, a 70-inch seat pitch, a retractable screen for improved privacy, a personal adjustable reading light, and in-seat power supply for those who wish to use their laptops.

Air Seychelles said by introducing the new seats it is providing its business class passengers with the comfort they expect, be it for catching up on work or for relaxation, entertainment, and privacy on board. As well as these features, Pearl Class passengers will be offered an individual hand-held entertainment player, which offers a selection of movies, videos, documentaries, radio channels, and 125 music CDs. The versatile player has portable DVD player-style controls, on/off/play/pause/fast-forward/rewind, and volume and brightness controls.

The airline’s executive chairman, Captain David Savy, said that by offering this ultimate level of comfort directly from and to its principal European markets, it can look forward to attracting customers who, for reasons of comfort during the long flight, may not have contemplated traveling to Seychelles before.

The Seychelles Tourism Board has confirmed that this move by Air Seychelles comes at the right time. Seychelles has been working on the consolidation of its tourism industry, and only weeks ago, the country’s President, James Michel, has tabled his new vision for the tourism industry, which he termed as the “Seychelles brand.” This brand of tourism wopuld be centered around the people of the country, which will help Seychelles claim ownership of its tourism industry.