News for South Pacific

Air New Zealand announced (30-May-2017) it will operate additional flights to regional towns and cities in response to strong customer demand during the New Zealand rugby season. Air New Zealand intends to add at least 46 extra domestic services throughout the country over the next five weeks, adding 3500 seats over the period with a mix of extra A320, ATR and Q300 services. The additional services are to be operated between Auckland and Dunedin, Rotorua, Blenheim, Whangarei and Palmerston North and between Wellington and Christchurch, Tauranga and Gisborne. Air New Zealand also plans to operate several domestic charter services on dates where there will be very high demand, including two with Boeing 777-200 aircraft. [more - original PR]

Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi confirmed Polynesian Airlines entered negotiation with Fiji Airways related to plans to resume international operations, and is considering a partnership with Fiji Airways (Sunday Samoan, 28-May-2017). Negotiations are expected to cover five to six months, focusing on routes "not covered by our flights, yet are being covered by Fiji Airways" according to Mr Malielegaoi. Polynesian Airlines reportedly plans to lease at least one widebody aircraft from Fiji Airways. Samoa informed Virgin Australia Group earlier in May-2017 that it has decided not to renew their JV agreement.

Qantas provided (29-May-2017) a network update, covering additional and expanded codeshare arrangements with Fiji Airways. Qantas will add its code to Fiji Airways’ twice weekly Adelaide-Nadi service, which commences on 30-Jun-2017. This adds to Qantas’ existing codeshare arrangements on Fiji Airways services between Nadi, Suva and destinations in Australia, New Zealand and the US. Separately, Fiji Airways will add its code to Qantas service between Singapore and Perth. [more - original PR]

South Australia's Minister for Tourism Leon Bignell stated (29-May-2017) a strong tourism sector is vital to the economic future of the state, with public-private co-operation "stimulating visitor demand, attracting more events, tourists and business travellers - who are spending a record AUD6.3 billion (USD4.7 billion) a year". [more - original PR]

Sydney Airport CEO and MD Kerrie Mather stated (30-May-2017) the airport is working on its 2039 Master Plan, which is due for release by May-2018. The airport is planning further expansion at terminal 1 International to include three new gates, baggage handling system and additional apron capacity as well as development of new T4 to provide capacity for international gates adjoining to T2/T3 domestic precinct. [more - original PR]

New Zealand's Ngai Te Rangi CEO Paora Stanley proposed consolidating Tauranga Airport, Whakatane Airport and Rotorua Airport into one major airport at Paengaroa to attract international services to the region (NZ Herald, 28-May-2017). The local leader stated he is in talks with four international investors that are interested in this project. The project is estimated to require investment of up to NZD1 billion (USD705 million) and will take 20 years to complete. Mr Stanley stated the main obstacle is getting regulatory approval for it: "The problem isn't about building it, the issue is the red tape and for the city to decide it's a good idea".

Airbus Group Australia Pacific acting VP for fixed wing Martin Ball confirmed (29-May-2017) New Zealand and Australia based MRO organisation Safe Air will be renamed as Airbus New Zealand Limited from Jul-2017. The company's contracts and agreements and its operations in Blenheim, Ohakea, Auckland and Melbourne (Australia) will remain unaffected by the change. Safe Air was acquired by Airbus Group Australia Pacific from Air New Zealand in Jun-2015. [more - original PR]

Melbourne Airport chief of aviation Simon Gandy welcomed (29-May-2017) Japan Airlines' (JAL) announcement it will launch Tokyo-Melbourne service from 02-Sep-2017, operating daily frequency with 186 seat Boeing 787-8 equipment. The aircraft is configured to provide a larger than normal allocation of premium seating, to capture business links between Japanese companies and Melbourne. This is the first time a Japanese carrier has operated to Melbourne. [more - original PR]

Fiji Bureau of Statistic reported (26-May-2017) total visitor arrivals to Fiji rose 18% year-on-year in Apr-2017. Details include:

• Visitor arrivals: 68,495, +17.8% year-on-year;
  • Australia: 30,951, +13.8%;
  • New Zealand: 13,804, +21.7%;
  • US: 5922, +30.5%;
  • China: 3875, +9.4%;
  • UK: 1449, -1.5%;
  • Canada: 1099, +34.4%;
  • South Korea: 634, +6.4%;
  • Japan: 467, +25.2%;
  • India: 396, +72.9%;
  • Hong Kong: 76, +123.5%. [more - original PR]

SriLankan Airlines announced (29-May-2017) daily nonstop service to Melbourne, commencing 29-Oct-2017. The carrier will operate A330-200 aircraft on the route and will facilitate passengers from the Middle East and South Asia seeking onward connectivity via Colombo to/from Australia. SriLankan Airlines’ CEO Captain Suren Ratwatte stated: "Our presence in Australia cements the long-standing relationship between both countries, who recently celebrated the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations. The addition of Melbourne signifies our strategy of optimising the carrier’s network in line with our restructuring". The service is scheduled to depart Colombo at 23:50 and return from Melbourne at 15:25. [more - original PR]