Etihad Wet Lease Agreement With Air Seychelles??

Intro

Well, here is something I didn't know, and perhaps you didn't know, but it seems like Etihad has wet-leased an Air Seychelles A320neo, which is quite a surprise.

The Details

As I headed online to look at options when flying from Muscat to Jakarta, I came across something very interesting today. The Etihad flight from Muscat to Abu Dhabi came with a message saying "Plane and crew by Air Seychelles for Etihad Airways". I thought, really?

Etihad flies an A320neo now!

As one does, I got into some deep research trying to find out what was going on here. From the limited information available on the internet, I was able to find out that the aircraft that Eithad has wet-leased was the A320neo under the registration of "S7-VEV", but that has now changed, of course.

Honestly, a lot better than their own narrowbody business class at the moment...

So Why?

Back in 2021, Etihad backtracked on its partnership with Air Seychelles. The government bought out the 40% of shares that Etihad had invested, and for a while, things were not going smoothly between the two. However, in 2024, the airline took a turn on their stance and has once again announced an even bigger partnership (codesharing flights), while Etihad is simultaneously pulling flights from Abu Dhabi to Mahe.

So why have this plane in their fleet? Considering that tomorrow (May 22nd) will be the last Etihad flight to head to Mahe, it seems that they are looking to operate a flight without operating the flight.

Final Thoughts

Looking online for a flight today, I came across an interesting wet lease agreement that I didn't realize existed. Etihad is now operating flights with an Air Seychelles A320neo, and it comes at a time when they have just terminated service between Abu Dhabi and Mahe. Very interesting.