Minister Morgan statement welcoming Alliance Vanille imminent signing

The official announcement made today by the Indian Ocean Commission is most welcome and follows technical meetings between our respective national air carriers and at a political level, discussions between member states. It is the way forward for us and it is an approach that the Seychelles Government has been promoting at every opportunity.
The l’Alliance Vanille as we know and anticipate, will be the mechanism that paves the way for greater air connectivity between the COI member states, moving us yet closer to a common vision of regional integration and boundless cooperation between sister Indian Ocean islands.
This agreement not only reinforces our ‘people to people’ linkages but also strengthens our collective tourism sectors and promotes a positive climate conducive to growth for business and trade within our respective Indian Ocean communities.
As small island developing states, we need to demonstrate clearly that from within our own regional community, that we are doing the maximum, and an alliance between our regional air carriers is an important step in regional air access and connectivity.
We appreciate that our national carrier Air Seychelles earlier this year added its support to the concept of connectivity and access within the region by flying into Madagascar. Their Mauritius flights as well adds to the access options for customers who may be wanting to travel for business or leisure to these islands. Code shares and flights by other airlines, such as the Air Austral into the Seychelles, is providing choice.
This announcement confirms the intent and the willingness by all to do more. We therefore look forward to the official signing on the 18th of June 2015 in Antananarivo by representatives of our respective carriers. A date which will serve as a marker in time when our regional states came together to further bridge the divides to improve connectivity and by that creating more development opportunity for all.