PAGO PAGO (RNZI/PINA) — Pago Pago-based airline Samoa Air is planning to expand and become a regional carrier in Polynesia.
Its chief executive, Andre Lavigne, said plans are afoot to acquire more small planes and to fill gaps in the region’s flight schedules by offering more extensive and frequent services.
The airline currently operates within American Samoa, between the Samoas, and to Vava’u in northern Tonga.
Lavigne said they are talking with Niue, which has seen a downturn in tourism because of the loss of its direct jet air link to Auckland. Samoa Air at one time provided Niue with its only air link, a Twin Otter service from Pago Pago.
But Lavigne said Samoa Air is unlikely to be able to assist Niue with a New Zealand service.
“We would like to link Niue to other island groups, whether it be the Samoas, potentially Fiji and also Tonga, of course…and maybe even the Cook Islands in the future,” he said.
