Air Fiji eyes more regional flights

Air Fiji has launched an ambitious plan to capture more regional destinations.

Currently serving Tuvalu and Tonga since it started flying regional in September, Fiji’s domestic carrier is targetting adding five more possible regional destinations in the new year. They are: Kiribati, Niue, Vanuatu, Samoa, and Wallis and Futuna.

Manager Regional Services Arthur Whippy says the airline has already started negotiations with Kiribati and Niue.

“We hope to start flying there early in the new year using our Embraer Brasilia,” he said.

The fast 30-seater aircraft - the airline’s most recent acquisition - currently operates

from Suva’s Nausori Airport: - on a three times-a-week service to Nukualofa’s Fua’amotu Airport, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; - and to Funafuti in Tuvalu four times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Asked about how negotiations have gone, Whippy says the negotiations are almost complete with Kiribati and the airline’s confident it will be given the go ahead.

“If everything goes according to plan, we should be flying there in February,” he said. As for Niue, Whippy says that negotiations have just begun. But the airline is optimistic it can “pull this off.”

And again if everything goes according to plan. Air Fiji hopes to start operating a

Nausori/Tonga/Niue service also in February.

Whippy says the airline hopes to start negotiations with the various authorities in Vanuatu, Samoa, and Wallis and Futuna in the new year.

“We’re looking at these destinations seriously. If we pull these routes, we’ll definitely be looking at acquiring another aircraft to service these destinations,” he said.

Air Fiji’s thinking is that there is a future operating frequent trips to regional destinations with a small, fast, comfortable prop-jet like the Brasilia.

This is since with 20 to 30 passengers it can make money in circumstances which for the bigger jets would be unprofitable. (PINA Nius Online) ■