Government is committed to ensure that employees of Air Seychelles to be made redundant are placed in employment as soon as possible, President James Michel said yesterday.

"Air Seychelles today is in a situation where it can no longer sustain its operations and the government is also in a situation where it can no longer sustain the airline, thus the decision for it to restructure and in the process it is inevitable that some employees are affected," the President told the media after meeting heads of tourism delegations from Reunion and Seychelles.

Mr Michel accepted that earlier this year he had reassured staff of the airline that government would do whatever it could to ensure that they did not lose their job and that Air Seychelles would continue its operations as the national carrier. 

"But today the situation has changed," he explained.

"Even if we wish Air Seychelles could continue to serve the international routes, unfortunately the situation does not allow for that to continue and Air Seychelles has to find ways through more profitable markets to sustain itself," the President added. 

He said it is important for Air Seychelles to develop partnerships with other more powerful, prosperous and well-established airlines so as to ensure that tourists continue to fly here.

Air Seychelles is also repositioning itself as a regional carrier.