The Air Seychelles / Mauritius Connection
Humongous bills left unpaid for more than 4 months
Stop the bleeding before it is too late!
Air Seychelles CEO Bissessur and Chairman David Savy
Our national carrier seems to be hitting a lot of turbulence these days... As its close connection with the Mauritians is being put under the microscope, we are discovering all the deals that have been made with a UK travel company. There is no doubt that the connections this company has with the management of Air Seychelles, namely the Mauritian CEO, Rajiv Bissessur, has given them a ‘golden contract’ to exploit the UK / Mauritius route. And to make matters worse, they are now shortchanging Air Seychelles and allowed to get away with it!
Sunset Faraway Holidays is a UK based company owned by Mauritians Harvin & Hamish Kumaya. Through their close affiliation with their fellowman, the Mauritian Rajiv, they have been given the exclusive rights to market cheap tickets to Mauritius on Air Seychelles. These bargain tickets are sold under ‘Sunset Flight Club’ with its website boasting:
“The ‘Sunset Flight Club’ offers the cheapest air tickets to Mauritius (and other destinations) We have an exclusive deal with Air Seychelles where we can offer flight only prices from £199 + tax”.
Our Flights Consolidation Department offers low price Flight Only options with many of the leading carriers to include Air France, Continental, Emirates, Air Seychelles, Air Mauritius, South African, Jet Airways, KLM, Sri Lankan Airlines, Thai Airways, Virgin Atlantic. We also have 60 seats per departure with Air Seychelles to Mauritius where prices can start from as low as £150 per person (excluding tax To Mauritius), This is exclusive to Sunset Travel Ltd and LuxuryHolidaysDirect.com utilizes all such deals to ensure our ‘PRICE WATCH PROMISE, WHERE WE GUARANTEE TO BEAT ANY OTHER GENUINE QUOTE FOR THE SAME HOLIDAY’.
It is interesting to note that the company also sells tickets from other airlines to Mauritius, namely Air Mauritius, Emirates and British Airways. The fares published for Air Seychelles is on average £100–200 cheaper than other carriers. They are currently running a promotion for the July period at £425 (including taxes) whilst travel on Emirates (which is via Dubai) is at £568.
NOW – the straw that breaks the camel’s back is the fact that Sunset Flight Club has run up a bill for more than four months that effectively affects the finances of our national carrier. In these dire economic times where airlines have their eyes fixed on their bottom lines and the regulating bodies imposing stricter regulations to help this financially strapped industry, the ‘genius’ management at Air Seychelles conveniently turns a blind eye at these shenanigans.
We have received confirmation that the payments by Sunset Flight Club has been outstanding after a true Seychellois living in the UK overheard a conversation that the Mauritian Company was now making arrangements to settle their March invoices. They can even laugh at our incompetence. Air Seychelles ensures that Seychellois travelling on its airline pays ahead for any ticket issued, but the Mauritians can take four months to pay for their tickets taken. Today we are sure that the March Invoices from Sunset Flight Club is overdue. Seychelles was assured that this Mauritian Company pays ahead for its tickets on this special deal. This is just not so and CREDIT is offered to them.
We implore President James Michel, in his capacity as Minister of Tourism, to look into this serious matter that is making a total mockery of our beloved national airline. We call upon him to request for the revenue statement for Sunset Faraway group so that he can consult for himself what a farce this deal brokered by the Air Seychelles management is. The unpaid bills are totally unacceptable. The golden contract to flog cheap fares to ethnic Mauritians for less than half the price that a normal ticket to Seychelles costs is a flagrant slap in the face to our people and the government running the affairs of this country.
The million dollar question is – will James Michel allow David Savy to continue perpetrating all this tomfoolery upon us taxpayers who are being asked to sacrifice while he and his team of ‘dodos’ are fast tracking the bankruptcy of our national carrier Air Seychelles?
You are being judged by your actions Mr. President!
Source: STAR 7-1-10