Samantha Imo-Munif is the new country manager for Air New Zealand in Samoa and takes on the role after the exit of Karen Gatt who left after four years. 

The senior Air N.Z. official met with the Assistant Chief Executive Officer for Civil Aviation, Lauano Yvonne Tuioti-Viliamu and the Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Works, Transport and Infrastructure, Fui Tupau Simanu early this week. 

She was accompanied to the meeting at the ministry by the Air N.Z. Head of Pacific Brent Roxburgh and her predecessor Ms. Gatt. 

According to the MWTI officials, the airline's new manager has Samoan ancestry and is also married to a Samoan. Attempts by this newspaper to get an interview with Mrs. Imo-Munif on Thursday were unsuccessful. 

Ms. Gatt, when she was first appointed to the role in 2019, said that the position overseeing the airline's Samoa office would be as fast-paced as Samoa's growing international tourism market. 

She has had a long employment history with the company having worked with Air N.Z. on and off since 1994.

The arrival of Mrs. Imo-Munif comes on the back of challenges that have affected travel between Faleolo International Airport and Auckland in recent weeks. These included faulty container loading equipment as well as a bird strike last Sunday which led to the cancellation of one flight impacting a lot of passengers.

There have also been increasing calls from the public on the Samoa government to address the high cost of travelling between Samoa and Auckland, New Zealand – which Air N.Z. currently flies and has a monopoly on the route – with Samoa's recently appointed Finance Minister, Lautimuia Uelese Va'ai telling a television program that the Samoa government could consider getting an aircraft further down line.

Lautimuia did not say whether the aircraft, if purchased by the government, will also service the same route which was previously operated by Samoa Airways when it jet services.