(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles has become a popular destination in the Middle East and Europe and the Emirates Airline is bringing passengers across the world to the island nation, said a top official of the airline.

The statement was made by Emirates Airline divisional senior vice president, Sheikh Majid Al Mualla after a meeting with Seychelles' President Wavel Ramkalawan on Thursday at State House. He was accompanied by Oomar Ramtoola, manager for the Indian Ocean Islands and the manager of the airline in Seychelles, Denise Prea.

"We are committed to this market and we always engage with the tourism board and the civil aviation and the business community," Al Mualla told reporters after the meeting.

He said that the high-level delegation is in Seychelles "to make sure that we thank the government. We get good support from the government."

Emirates Airline started its operations to the island nation in 2005. It started four times a week and is now connecting Seychelles to Dubai twice daily seven days a week.

"We used to have daily flights, now we have double daily flights that definitely would not go without the increase of passengers and cargo as well," said Mualla.

The airline was the first to resume its services to Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, when the island nation reopened its borders in March last year after being closed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since January 2021, the Emirate Airline has carried close to 43,500 passengers to the country, from more than 90 destinations.

According to the airline's website, its top markets feeding the Seychelles include the United Arab Emirates, Germany, France, Poland, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Russia, Belgium and the United States.

Al Mualla said his company is promoting Seychelles on its network and that "this is one of the markets that are fundamental to our network and we will continue to do that."

He said that the airline is now satisfied that its numbers are back to normal.

In October 2021, the airline signed an agreement with Tourism Seychelles – the marketing arm of the Department of Tourism – for joint initiatives to promote trade and tourism in the country.

Tourism is the top contributor to the Seychelles' economy.