Fiji Link

This article is about the Fijian domestic airline. For the international Fijian airline, see Fiji Airways.
Fiji Link

Aircraft before conversion to the Fiji Link branding
IATA ICAO Callsign
FJ FJA LINK FIJI
Founded 2006
Commenced operations 2006
Hubs Nadi International Airport
Secondary hubs Nausori International Airport
Fleet size 6
Destinations 16 (See Below)
Company slogan Best value under the Sun
Parent company Fiji Airways
Headquarters Nadi International Airport
Nadi, Fiji
Key people Shaenaz Voss (Executive General Manager)
Website fijiairways.com
Sunflower Airlines Islander, landing on Malololailai, Fiji, 1986.

Fiji Link is the trade name for Fiji Airlines Limited, which is a Fijian domestic airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Fiji's International carrier Fiji Airways. It is headquartered at the Fiji Link office in the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji (CAAFI) compound at Nadi International Airport in Nadi, Fiji.[1] It operates scheduled services to twelve destinations within the Fijian Islands as well as regionally within the Pacific Islands.

History

Don Collingwood, a pilot and businessman, founded what became Pacific Sun in 1980, under the name Sunflower Airlines, which later changed to Sun Air. It began with a single Britten Norman BN2 Islander aircraft, flying the Nadi-Taveuni route. Other than the BN2 Islanders which remained the backbone of the fleet, the airline operated a wide range of piston and turboprop aircraft including the Beechcraft BE-95 Baron, Beechcraft A65 Queen Air, de Havilland DH.114 Heron, Shorts 330, and de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter. By January 2007 before official handover to Air Pacific, its fleet had grown to 12 aircraft, and the company employed nearly 140 staff.[2]

On 31 January 2007 Sun Air was sold and handed over to current parent company Fiji Airways, formerly Air Pacific, which had to fight off a legal challenge against the handover by the now-defunct rival domestic carrier at the time, Air Fiji.[3] Air Pacific then established the domestic airline as Fiji Airlines Limited, trading as Pacific Sun. The airline began operations with eight aircraft, including the introduction of two ATR 42-500 aircraft purchased used from Air Mauritius, along with three existing BN2 Islanders and three DHC-6 Twin Otters. However, the fleet was cut back to just four between December 2010 and June 2011 due to economic cost cutting, resulting in the withdrawal of the BN2 Islander fleet as well as one DHC-6 Twin Otter.[4] Two additional leased DHC-6 Twin Otters were added to the fleet during June 2011 to increase the Pacific Sun fleet to six aircraft.[5]

On November 26, 2013, parent Fiji Airways announced Pacific Sun was to be rebranded as ‘Fiji Link’. Operations as Fiji Link commenced in June 2014.[6]

News

In late November 2010, Pacific Sun announced that due to current economical reasons, they were withdrawing their BN2 Islander fleet from service. This meant downsizing the Pacific Sun fleet from eight aircraft to just five.[4]

In early December 2010 Pacific, Pacific Sun announced the redundancy of 85 out of 210 employees. This included staff from administrative, support and operations areas as well as 15 Pilots. Pacific Sun's general manager, Jim Samson, explained that continuing operating losses had resulted in management having to make some tough decisions.

"Pacific Sun has lost, on average, $6 million per year over the last three years. Continued losses are unsustainable. Regrettably as a result, we have no alternative but to restructure the airline in order to ensure its viability and success going forward," he said.

Air Pacific chief executive officer and Pacific Sun board member David Pflieger said since Air Pacific's takeover in 2007, Pacific Sun had accumulated $18.5million in losses. Air Pacific had loaned $44million to purchase Sun Air's certificate and operations and two ATR-42 aircraft.[7]

In November 2013, Fiji Airways held a competition to rename Pacific Sun. On November 13, the competition closed with the most votes going to Fiji Link. On November 26 Fiji Airways released the new name. The new livery was also announced. Operations as Fiji Link commenced in June 2014.[8]

Destinations

As of August 2014, Fiji Link operates scheduled services to the following destinations 11 domestic and 5 international:[9]

Fiji

Oceania

Tonga
Tuvalu
Samoa
Vanuatu

Fleet

Logo of former Sunflower Airlines

The Fiji Link fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of August 2016):[10]

Fiji Link Fleet
Aircraft In fleet Orders Passengers Notes
J Y Total
ATR 42-600
1
0
0
48
48
Fijian Islands, Domestic.
ATR 72-600
2
0
8
60
68
Fijian Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu.[11][12]
De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter
3
Total
6
0

References

  1. ↑ "Contact Us." Fiji Airlines Limited. Retrieved on 3 October 2009. "Fiji Airlines Limited, trading as Pacific Sun, was incorporated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Air Pacific Limited currently having its main base at the Pacific Sun office, CAAFI Compound, Nadi Airport, Fiji Islands." and "Head Office Pacific Sun PO Box 9270 Nadi International Airport Fiji Islands"
  2. ↑ Fiji TV
  3. ↑ Fiji Times
  4. 1 2 Air Pacific
  5. ↑ Fiji Times
  6. ↑ Fijiairways.com
  7. ↑ Fiji Times
  8. ↑ Fijiairways.com
  9. ↑ "Pacific Sun route map". Fiji Airlines Limited. Retrieved 2014-07-31.
  10. ↑ "Global Airline Guide 2016 (Part One)". Airliner World (October 2016): 14.
  11. ↑ Ausbt.com
  12. ↑ "Fiji Airways' new MD Stefan Pichler sets his sights on the next five years for rebranded airline". Centre for Aviation. 2013-09-13.
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