Plans to launch a second international Fijian carrier have been revamped and a newly completed business proposal is to be submitted to the Government in Nadi this month in an attempt to secure an air operator's certificate.
Singapore-based Aviation Services is spearheading an effort to launch the newly renamed Fijian Airways International as early as July. The Singapore ground services company says that it is looking to register the airline in Fiji, and that new financial backing "-is in the process of being secured".
Aviation Services plans to present the proposed airline's business plan to Fijian tourism and civil aviation minister, David Pickering, on 17 March. The start-up carrier still faces several major hurdles, not least securing approval from the Fiji Trade and Investment Board.
The move is an attempt to breathe new life into the originally named Fiji International Airways, which failed to get off the ground. Financial support for the airline, claimed to have been coming from Qatar, failed to materialise. The company's Singapore headquarters was then shut down after failing to pay its bills. The airline's former chief executive Alan Lindrea is to be retained by the company as an "advisor".
Aviation Services says that it has a completed business plan to present to the trade board. It calls for Fijian Airways to operate a single Boeing 747-400 combi between Nadi, Singapore, Mumbai and London Stansted.
Source: Flight International
