Royal Tongan Airlines
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| Founded | 1985 | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | 2004 | ||||||
| Hubs | Fuaʻamotu International Airport | ||||||
| Headquarters | Nukuʻalofa, Tonga | ||||||
Royal Tongan Airlines was the national airline of Tonga until liquidation in 2004. It was a government agency and operated interisland services and international routes.
In 1983 a feasibility study was undertaken by All Nippon Airways to investigate the setting up of a Tongan airline. It was planned for Friendly Island Airways to begin operations in October 1974, with technical and managerial assistance provided by the Japanese airline, and for the airline to operate a surplus ANA Boeing 737-200. The plan was dropped in favour of Tongan participation in Air Nauru, which was expected to take delivery of a third Fokker F28 and was also expected to extend the Nauru-Apia route to Tonga. At the time, flights between Apia and Tonga were operated exclusively by Polynesian Airlines.
In 1985, King of Tonga Taufa'ahau Tupou IV visited the British Aerospace factory in Woodford, leading to hopes with the manufacturer that Tonga would purchase the British Aerospace ATP. However, the government of Tonga and the Tonga Commodities Board purchased a CASA 212 and Britten Norman Islander with which domestic flights could be started. Flights to Pago Pago (American Samoa) and Apia (Western Samoa) were begun with the CASA in 1986. As airfields in Vavaʻu, Haʻapai, ʻEua and the Niuas were upgraded, the airline upgraded the inter-island aircraft. In 1989 the airline leased two de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters to replace the CASA and Islander, and after the initial lease period, purchased the aircraft from the lessor, Guinness Peat Aviation. In June 1991, the name was changed from Friendly Island Airways to Royal Tongan Airlines, and international services were begun with a Boeing 737-200 which was leased from Solomon Airlines from Tongatapu to Auckland, New Zealand. The airline was considering acquiring a Douglas DC-8 in order to operate flights to Australia, New Zealand and Honolulu, however this didn't eventuate and in 1994 the airline entered into a codeshare agreement with Polynesian Airlines on routes to Sydney, Honolulu and Los Angeles.
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