Description
Fiji Airways (trading as and formerly known as Air Pacific ) is the flag carrier of Fiji and operates international services from its hubs in Fiji to 15 countries and 27 cities including, Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands (Oceania), Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Canada and the United States. It has an extended network of 108 international destinations through its codeshare partners. The Fiji Airways Group brings in 64 percent of all visitors who fly to Fiji, employs over 1000 employees, and earns revenues of over FJD$815 million (US$390m).
The first commercial flight as Fiji Airways was made in 1951 but the airline's origins date back to Katafaga Estates Ltd. formed in 1947. After being acquired by Qantas in 1958, Katafaga Estates was retooled as a regional airline and renamed Air Pacific. In May 2012, MD/CEO David Pflieger announced that as the final part of the airline's successful turnaround, the airline would be returning to its former name of Fiji Airways to reinforce its role as the national airline of Fiji. The Fiji government owns 52% of the airline and Qantas 46%, with the governments of several Pacific island nations holding the remainder.
The airline plans to replace five of its older Boeing 737s with Boeing's new 737 MAX 8s, at a list price of about US$110 million each. Two of the new aircraft arrived in 2018, and the remainder in 2019. The airline is also currently leasing two Airbus A350-900 aircraft. The 737 MAX 8s are intended for Fiji Airways' regional services to Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu, while the Airbus A350-900s, A330-200s and A330-300s are intended for longer services such as the United States, Canada and Singapore.