PALIKIR, Pohnpei (FSM Information Services) — In part as a result of the advocacy efforts on behalf of David W. Panuelo, president of the Federated States of Micronesia, and the other members of the Micronesian Presidents Summit, the government of Australia is subsidizing biweekly flights on Nauru Airlines so as to help connect the North and South Pacific.
The inaugural Australia-North Pacific Connector landed in Pohnpei on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022, at 11:45 p.m., and departed on Oct. 17 at 11:50 a.m. The biweekly flight originates in Brisbane, Australia, and travels to the Republic of Nauru; Tarawa, in the Republic of Kiribati; Majuro, in the Republic of the Marshall Islands; and Pohnpei, in the FSM. Persons wishing to travel to the Republic of Fiji, or other South Pacific islands via Fiji, can depart from Nauru to Fiji on a separate flight.
Passengers on the inaugural flight included Asterio Appi, deputy minister of foreign affairs of Nauru; Reagan Aliklik, deputy minister for information & communications of Nauru; Geoff Bowmaker, vice chair of Nauru Airlines; and Robert Eoe, chief executive officer of Nauru Airlines.
Prior to the Nauru delegation’s departure, FSM Secretary of Foreign Affairs Kandhi Elieisar and acting Transportation Secretary Thomas Kostka met with Deputy Minister Appi of Nauru to discuss various bilateral issues between the FSM and Nauru, and to acknowledge the significance of the return of Nauru Airlines to the FSM.
FSM Secretary of Foreign Affairs Kandhi Elieisar and acting Transportation Secretary Thomas Kostka pose with the delegation from Nauru.
