acquire new German planes

Aviation

Air Marshalls moving to acquire new German planes

By Giff Johnson

AIR Marshall Islands is attempting to shore up its domestic air services,

while keeping its finger

in the regional market until it sells some or all of its current planes in use for international service and acquires new ones.

AMI discontinued its twice weekly Majuro-Kiribati-Tuvalu-Fiji route in February, a service it has provided for 15 years U but is maintaining a Majuro- Kiribati service that links with Air Naum to Fiji, and flying Fiji-Tuvalu.

AMI is continuing the Tuvalu service from Fiji by chartering back its Saab 2000 that is on lease to Air Vanuatu.

The Tuvaluans are clearly jittery about the future of AMl’s service, and are said to be talking with Fiji Air and other air carri ers about establishing service on the well travelled route.

AMI currently acts as the national carri er for Tuvalu. General manager Marc

Mackay said that the airline will continue providing the service for Tuvalu at least through April when the long-term lease of the Saab to Air Vanuatu expires.

Confirmation of service for Tuvalu beyond April has to wait for some pieces of AMDs equipment puzzle to fit into place, Mackay indicated.

Currently, the Saab is up for sale. The HS74B is already sold but awaiting an exact date for turn over to the new owner.

The purchase of new 30-seat Domier 328 s is in the pipeline but not yet completed.

“International connections to and from Fiji will continue,” said general manager Marc Mackay.

There will be weekly service to Tuvalu, and a twice-weekly service to and from Fiji through Tarawa, connecting with Air Naum on Tuesdays and Thursdays, he said.

“This is part of the airline’s strategic plan to facilitate international air trans portation services,” he said. “The only dif ference is that, for the foreseeable future, we will not be doing so using our own air

craft all the way to Fiji. Our first priority is and will always be our domestic service but that does not preclude the airline from working together with other regional carri ers to realise better international services”.

AMI is attempting to expand and improve services to such islands as Bikini - which has a fledgling scuba diving and sports fishing resort drawing an increasing number of visitors.

The national airline is in the process of negotiating a deal for new airplanes that is worth about $3O million, according to Marshalls Finance Minister Tony deßrum.

He indicated that the deal was still being negotiated and was for two Domier 328 aircraft, spare parts and equipment, and a new hangar facility for AMI. The Domier 328 s could be used on the Fiji route, if AMI decides to go back into it.

Locally, the push is on to bolster the air line’s domestic service, which has been erratic because one of the two Domier 228 s - 19 seater commuter planes - has been down for months, awaiting major overhaul and new engines.

For two weeks ending March 7, AMI halted all Domier flights - the main link for remote outer atolls in the Republic - so that engineers could install new engines and perform other maintenance on both planes.

Mackay says this will shore up the service, making it reliable with the availability of both planes. ■

Aiir Marshals is attempting to shore up its domestic serves while keeping track of inrerna-tional services