Australia is putting its neighbouring Pacific island nations under pressure to launch a single regional airline.
In the lead up to a gathering of political leaders at the Pacific Island Forum, Australian prime minister John Howard said: "It is just not sustainable for a very small country to have an airline. If you have a country of fewer than 100,000 people maybe it is better to try and have one airline that covers the whole area rather than to have four separate airlines." Although Howard did not specify which airlines, he is most likely referring to Air Niugini, Fiji's Air Pacific, Air Vanuatu and Solomon Airlines.
Howard's remarks came on the heels of his government's decision to send a peacekeeping force to the Solomon Islands to restore law and order, and diffuse tension between ethnic groups. Australian officials are concerned about an "arc of instability" in the islands from Indonesia to Fiji.
Howard is pressing his point with the Pacific Island Forum. He stresses, however, that the decision to form a regional airline is up to island leaders, although he warns that it could be a factor in future Australian aid.
South Pacific reaction is muted. "It has been tried before," says Solomon Airlines chairman Michael Maina. "Air Pacific was supposed to be the regional carrier, but then it could not service certain routes because of the company's economic viability."
Peter Roberts, a 28-year veteran of South Pacific aviation, recalls when he was a consultant to Air Pacific. Fiji, Samoa, and other island nations owned shares in Air Pacific and expected it to serve them all. But differences emerged over routes and frequencies, and "everyone wanted the plane on the weekend". In the end, Roberts says, the consensus was that a single regional airline was a "mission impossible".
Still, the islands have found other ways to co-operate. Routinely, their airlines codeshare and block seats with each other. Eight island nations have also agreed to form a central aviation safety office to oversee operations, airworthiness, aviation security, and airports in the Pacific.
Source: Airline Business
