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Air Pacific

IATA FJ ICAO FJI Callsign PACIFIC
Founded	1947
Hubs	Nadi International Airport
Secondary hubs	Nausori International Airport
Member lounge	Tabua Club
Subsidiaries	Pacific Sun
Fleet size	14
Destinations	17 International & 10 Domestic
Parent company	Government of Fiji (51%) Qantas (46.32%)
Headquarters	Nadi, Fiji
Key people	John Campbell (MD and CEO)
Website	www.airpacific.com

Air Pacific Limited, Fiji's international airline, operates international and domestic services around the Pacific and to North America and Hong Kong. It is also a partner with the frequent flyer programmes of Qantas, American Airlines, and Alaska Airlines^[1] (though not the larger Oneworld airline alliance to which Qantas and American are key members). It has its head office at the Air Pacific Maintenance & Administration Centre in Nadi.^[2]

History

The airline was established and started operations in 1951. It was founded by Australian aviator Harold Gatty. Prior to 1971 the company operated as Fiji Airways. Air Pacific began service to the USA in 1983. Except for 2001, the airline has been profitable for every year from 1995 to 2004. Over 500,000 passengers were carried in 2004. The airline was responsible for starting the first ever scheduled international services to the capital of Australia, Canberra. While the service operated twice weekly for a number of months it is now suspended.

Air Pacific acquired Sun Air, a domestic airline, in 2007. This formed the basis for Pacific Sun, Air Pacific's domestic and regional subsidiary.

Air Pacific is owned by the Fiji Government (51%), Qantas (46.32%). Air New Zealand and the governments of Kiribati, Tonga, Nauru and Samoa each hold minor stakes. It employed 771 people as of March 2007^[3].

Destinations

An Air Pacific Boeing 747-400 named "Island of Vanua Levu", taxiing at Sydney Airport, Australia. (2005)

Codeshare agreements

Air Pacific has the following codeshare agreements (at December 2009), all bookable through Air Pacific website:

Airline	From	To	Operator	Notes
Air New Zealand	Nadi	Los Angeles	Air Pacific
Alaska Airlines	Los Angeles	Vancouver	Alaska Airlines
American Airlines	Los Angeles	Atlanta Austin Chicago Dallas Denver Houston Las Vegas Miami New York Phoenix Portland Sacramento San Diego San Francisco San Jose Seattle Washington	American Airlines
Cathay Pacific	Nadi	Hong Kong	Air Pacific
Qantas	Nadi	Auckland Brisbane Honolulu Melbourne Sydney	Air Pacific

Fleet

The Air Pacific fleet consists of an all-Boeing fleet (at 8 January 2010):

The Pacific Sun fleet includes the following aircraft (at 8 January 2010):

Air Pacific have recently expanded into the Fiji domestic market with the recent takeover of Sun Air. Rebranded as Pacific Sun, the takeover acquired 6 original Sun Air aircraft as well as the addition of 2 ATR42-500 purchased from Air Mauritius in mid 2006.

Controversies

Pilot exodus

There has been a mass exodus of local pilots from Air Pacific to airlines in the Middle East, Australia and also Asia. It must also be noted that after 1987 coup, for about 10 years Air Pacific stopped taking qualified pilots of Indofijian origin.^[4] The pilots association has credited the pilot exodus to a gap in working conditions between locals and expatriates.^[5]

Profit

Air Pacific announced an after tax profit of FJ$25 million (US$17 million) for the financial year of 2007. The after tax profit for the previous financial year was only FJ$17,000 (US$11,500). ^[6]

External links

• Air Pacific
• Pacific Sun

References

Airlines of Fiji Air Fiji · Air Pacific · Pacific Island Seaplanes · Pacific Sun