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27.12.2005
http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2005/December/12-27-01.htm
PACIFICISLANDSREPORT
Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i
REGIONAL AIRLINES FILL AIR NAURU GAP
By Giff Johnson
MAJURO, Marshall Islands (Marianas Variety, Dec. 27) — With Air Nauru out of service following court-ordered repossession of its only Boeing-737, at least three airlines in the region are jumping in to fill the gap. Air Pacific, Air Vanuatu and Air Marshall Islands are all flying portions of the Brisbane, Australia to Nadi, Fiji route formerly serviced weekly by Air Nauru.
Air Marshall Islands is laying on special flights to get passengers stranded in Majuro to Tarawa, Kiribati. Air Marshall Islands, which for the past two years has flown only domestically, is also looking at reestablishing air service between Majuro and Tarawa with possible additional service to Nauru.
An Australian court ruled last Friday that Air Nauru’s single plane had to be turned over to American creditors on Sunday because loan payments on the plane had not been made by the Nauru government.
The abrupt halt to Air Nauru’s central Pacific service after two and a half years left many stranded. Sports teams from Nauru and Kiribati, returning from a track competition in Saipan, and a Nauru delegation that attended last week’s Tuna Commission meetings in Pohnpei were stuck in Majuro earlier this week.
Air Marshall Islands flew its first charter service Thursday this week, with every seat on its Dash-8, twin-engine plane filled. Air Marshall Islands general manager Dan Fitzpatrick said Friday that another charter is scheduled for next week Thursday to Tarawa.
"We anticipate flying to Tarawa on Thursdays until we hear that Air Nauru is starting up on the route again," he said. The Air Marshall Islands flight to Tarawa is timed so that Fiji-bound passengers can transfer to an Air Pacific charter next week Thursday. Fiji-based Air Pacific flew a Fiji-Kiribati charter flight this week. Air Nauru is chartering an Air Vanuatu plane to fly from Brisbane to Tarawa, with stops in Honiara, the Solomon Islands and Nauru next Tuesday.
Air Nauru has operated between Majuro and Tarawa under a code-share agreement with Air Marshall Islands since it started the service two-and-a-half-years-ago that links Brisbane, Australia and Nadi, Fiji with smaller islands in the central Pacific.
Fitzpatrick said that he has also been asked by Air Nauru to extend the weekly Majuro-Tarawa service to include Nauru. To launch a regular service to Nauru will require approval of the governments in Kiribati and Nauru, he said. A charter service would be easier to operate as it doesn’t need the same level of government approvals. "We’re happy to do it (charters)," he said.
December 27, 2005
Marianas Variety: www.mvariety.com
Copyright © 2004 Marianas Variety. All Rights Reserved
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/s1533281.htm
Last Updated 17/12/2005, 14:56:45
Two Pacific Island nations have been left without any air services following a court ruling in Melbourne that will result in the seizure of Air Nauru's only aircraft.
Sean Dorney reports passengers in four other countries have had their travel plans disrupted.
Passengers in several Pacific Island countries due to travel on Air Nauru's regular service to Australia tomorrow have been told the flight has been cancelled. This follows a ruling by the High Court yesterday upholding an earlier ruling allowing the Export-Import Bank of America to seize Air Nauru's sole aircraft, a Boeing 737-400. Air Nauru has been in dispute with the America's Ex-Im Bank since 2002. A statement from the bank says it appreciates the difficulties that the court's decision presents to both the airline and the Government of Nauru but that the action follows numerous unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a resolution and the bank is only protecting the interest of United States taxpayers. Both Nauru and Kiribati rely entirely on Air Nauru for international services while the airline has also been servicing Solomon Islands, the Marshall Islands, Fiji and Australia. Sean Dorney, Honiara.
Air Nauru is no longer operating after the U.S. government's Export-Import Bank took possession of the company's Boeing 737 aircraft at Melbourne last Saturday. An Australian court allowed the seizure after the troubled airline was unable cover loan payments on its jet.
If Air Nauru doesn't manage to come up with the money fairly soon it will be the end of 30 years of service which saw the carrier flying all around the Central Pacific and as far afield as Hong Kong, Koror, Apia, Pago Pago, Noumea, and Auckland. Air Nauru discontinued their Nauru, Pohnpei, Guam, Manila route in 2001, and since then they've focused on providing regular flights from Melbourne and Brisbane to Honiara, Nauru, Majuro, Tarawa, and Nadi.
Once one of the richest countries in the world, Nauru's fortunes declined as its phosphate reserves were mined out. Current mining revenues are just one percent of what they were during the boom years two decades ago. The A$1 billion in the Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust has also been squandered on bad investments, and Nauru-owned buildings in Melbourne, Honolulu, Manila, Guam, Saipan, and Washington have been sold to pay creditors. The well is now dry, although there's a slight chance that Taiwan will bail Air Nauru out once again.
posted on Tuesday, December 20, 2005
20.12.2005
http://www.abc.net.au/news/world/pacific/default.htm
Last Update:Tuesday, December 20, 2005. 7:17pm (AEDT)
Nauruseeks to lease back seized plane
Nauruhas appealed to the United States to release a repossessed plane that provided the only links between the island and the rest of the world.
Government-owned Air Nauru lost its only plane, a Boeing 737-400, on Sunday when it was repossessed by Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank of the United States.
"The repossession of the plane has put lives at risk as the health of many families in Nauru depends on travel to Australia for medical emergencies," Transport Minister Kieren Keke said.
"All flights have been cancelled and thousands of booked travellers are stranded."
Mr Keke also says many Nauruans have been trying to return to the island for Christmas.
An Australian court upheld the bank's move after Nauru failed to make many of the repayments due since 2002.
The island's finances are in disarray.
Nauruwants the Ex-Im Bank to lease the plane to Air Nauru until a buyer is found and the airline can find an alternative aircraft.
"Ex-Im Bank would gain revenue whilst seeking interested buyers for the aircraft and Air Nauru would be able to continue providing essential air services to the people of islands that have no alternate air services," Mr Keke said.
The 7,500 residents of Nauru, a 21 square kilometre coral atoll lying near the equator, were once among the world's wealthiest due to the export of phosphates.
The reserves are almost exhausted and, with earlier wealth squandered through corruption and mismanagement, the country is virtually bankrupt.
Nauru, through its Australian aircraft operator Victoria Aircraft Leasing, never disputed its failure to pay.
Instead, it had said that the United States had promised support for aircraft financing in return for Nauru's cooperation in helping the US gather intelligence and protect its national security.
- AFP
22.12.2005
We have managed to establish a communication link to Air Pacific, another carrier operating in the Pacific. They are looking ways to reopen the Suva-Tarawa route.
I.e. we have got a challenge to get to Tarawa and back. We will keep you posted about the development. Wish us luck ! |
