📷 Photo: Ethiopian Airlines / Seychelles Tourism Board, via voyagesafriq.com
VICTORIA, Seychelles — Ethiopian Airlines is to operate two daily flights between Addis Ababa and Mahé from 1 December 2026, adding more than 1,000 seats a week to the Seychelles international market as the country heads into its peak festive season.
The second daily rotation will be added as part of the airline’s northern winter 2026/27 schedule, with the new service arriving at Seychelles International Airport at 4:20 p.m. and returning to Addis Ababa at 5:50 p.m. It will be operated by a Boeing 737 configured with 16 business-class and 138 economy seats, the Seychelles Tourism Board confirmed in welcoming the move on Friday.
The expanded service supplements the carrier’s existing daily non-stop flight, which currently departs Addis Ababa Bole International Airport at 9:30 a.m. and lands in Mahe at 2:20 p.m. The return flight bound for Addis leaves Seychelles at 5:15 p.m., completing a rotation of roughly three hours and fifty minutes each way.
Welcoming the announcement, Chief Executive Officer of the Seychelles Tourism Board Vesna Rakic described the additional capacity as a significant milestone in strengthening the destination’s international air connectivity.
“Ethiopian Airlines has become an important partner in Seychelles’ efforts to diversify its source markets, and the introduction of more than 1,000 additional seats per week will provide a welcome boost to the destination,” she said.
“The additional capacity, particularly during the festive season, will offer travellers greater flexibility and more options when planning their holidays. It aligns perfectly with our market diversification strategy and our objective of improving accessibility to Seychelles.”
The new times open same-day onward connectivity from Addis Ababa on the second daily rotation that did not previously exist, according to schedule data tracked by aviation analyst AeroRoutes. Ethiopian’s Bole hub feeds passengers into East African capitals, the Gulf, the Indian subcontinent and southern Africa, and the layered service gives Mahe-bound travellers from those markets a same-day arrival option in the late afternoon, when hotel check-in on Mahé is at its most efficient.
The schedule is being marketed as part of the broader Ethiopian winter expansion, which also includes additional capacity to Antananarivo, Moroni and Lilongwe. The Seychelles service had been publicly flagged for a double-daily operation since at least May 2026, when Ethiopian filed the change with industry trackers and Travel News in South Africa first reported the move.
Passengers on both daily rotations continue to earn and redeem ShebaMiles, the airline’s frequent-flyer programme, and have access to its onboard catering, in-flight entertainment and baggage policies, the carrier confirmed.
The move lands inside Seychelles’ wider 50th-anniversary year. President Dr Patrick Herminie opened the country’s golden jubilee countdown earlier in 2026 under the theme “Nou Pep, Nou Lidantite, Nou Desten”, with the tourism board using the milestone to court visitors from a wider set of origin markets beyond its traditional European base. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council’s Seychelles Economic Impact Report, long-haul air access remains the single most binding constraint on visitor growth across small island developing economies.
Tickets for the second daily rotation are on sale through Ethiopian Airlines sales offices, travel agents and the carrier’s website.
Sources cited: VoyagesAfriq — Ethiopian Airlines increases Seychelles capacity with double-daily service, 24 July 2026; AeroRoutes — Ethiopian Increases Seychelles Flights From Dec 2026, 15 May 2026; Ethiopian Airlines — Explore Our Enhanced Routes; Travel News (South Africa) — ET increases SEZ flights, 12 May 2026; World Travel and Tourism Council — Seychelles Economic Impact Report.
