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Vanuatu may adopt discarded Samoa Airways B737

The government of Vanuatu may be willing to take a discarded B737-800 off the hands of the government of the neighbouring Pacific archipelago of Samoa and its wholly-owned flag carrier Samoa Airways (OL, Apia Faleolo), the Samoa Observer has reported.

Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, prime minister of Samoa, confirmed that discussions were underway with Vanuatu over 5W-TFL (msn 42805), which the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows is leased from Carlyle Aviation Partners and is currently stored at Brisbane Int'l on Australia’s eastern coast. Air Vanuatu (NF, Port Vila) already operates one other aircraft of the same type, while Samoa Airways does not.

The prime minister told the newspaper on March 7 that the two governments had “exchanged letters” in relation to the leased aircraft and that she was happy with the offer from Vanuatu. However, “we still have to resolve the issue between ourselves and the lessor,” she cautioned.

Last summer, Samoa’s new government decided soon after taking office that the lease agreement on the aircraft, signed by the...

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Tonga's Fly Niu set to acquire Lulutai - report

The Tongan government has given its initial consent to sell state-owned Lulutai Airlines (L8, Tongatapu) to the privately owned, albeit dormant carrier, Fly Niu Airlines (Tongatapu).

According to Kaniva News, the finalisation of the agreement will depend on its review by a newly installed government. If all goes according to plan, the two parties could complete the transaction in early 2022.

However, Matangi Tonga said Interim Prime Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa's decision to offload the national carrier had raised concern over the future of domestic flights within the Tongan archipelago. Lulutai was founded to ensure such services after another privately-owned airline, Real Tonga Airlines (R4, Tongatapu), had failed to do so.

Fly Niu and Peau Vavau (3O, Tongatapu) had operated domestic air services in Tonga until the government introduced its one airline policy in 2004, resulting in Fly Niu losing its permit. The move effectively gave Peau Vava'u, an airline owned by Crown Prince Tupouto’a, a monopoly in the local market before it too collapsed in 2009.

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