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Founded | 1947 | ||||||
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Commenced operations | 1951 | ||||||
Hubs | Nadi International Airport | ||||||
Secondary hubs | Nausori International Airport | ||||||
Subsidiaries | Fiji Link | ||||||
Fleet size | 9 | ||||||
Destinations | 24 | ||||||
Headquarters |
Nadi International Airport Nadi, Fiji |
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Key people | Andre Viljoen (Managing Director & CEO) Nalin Patel (Chairman) |
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Website | fijiairways |
Air Pacific Limited, trading as Fiji Airways (and formerly as Air Pacific), is the flag carrier airline of Fiji. It is based in Nadi and operates international and domestic services to 10 countries and 17 cities around the Pacific Ocean, including Oceania, the United States and Hong Kong. Fiji Airways annually transports almost two-thirds of the visitors to the country.
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 newest 737 MAX 8s upon delivery in 2018, at a cost of about US$110 million each. Two of the new Boeings are scheduled to arrive in 2018, and the remainder the following year. The planes are intended for Fiji Airways' regional services to Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.
The airline was founded by Australian aviator Harold Gatty who in 1931 had been the navigator on a record-breaking round-the-world flight with Wiley Post. Gatty moved to Fiji after World War II and registered the airline in 1947 as Katafaga Estates Ltd., after the coconut estate Gatty had established on Fiji's eastern island group. Gatty renamed the airline as Fiji Airways in September 1951. The New Zealander Fred Ladd was Fiji Airways' first Chief Pilot.
After Gatty's death in 1958, Fiji Airways was acquired by Qantas. Initially, Qantas tried to create international support for a multinational, shared, regional airline. By 1966 Fiji Airways's shareholders included the governments of Tonga, Western Samoa, Nauru, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands.