Samoa Airways is seeking to renew its air service licence in six Pacific island nations and territories but has left out the Australian and New Zealand routes.

The intentions of the national carrier were confirmed in a public notice published this week by Polynesian Limited trading as Samoa Airways, as part of its application process for its air services licence to be renewed.

The routes the airline has applied for include Samoa–American Samoa, Samoa–Fiji, Samoa–Tonga, Samoa–Cook Islands, Samoa–Niue and Samoa–Wallis Islands.

The application notice was addressed to the Minister for Works Transport and Infrastructure, Olo Fiti Vaai pursuant to section 83 of the Civil Aviation Act 1998. Any concerns relating to the application are to be addressed and sent to the Minister before the 22 April 2022 deadline. 

Attempts by the Samoa Observer to get a comment from the Minister were unsuccessful. 

The local airline’s abandoning of the Australian and N.Z. routes opens the door to New Zealand and Australian commercial airlines monopolising the route.

The fate of a Boeing 737-800 aircraft leased by Samoa Airways, which Samoa’s new Government has refused to endorse due to concerns the cost of the lease will bankrupt the airline, remains unknown. 

Two months ago the Samoa Observer revealed there were behind-the-scenes negotiations between the Samoa Government and its Vanuatu counterpart over the leased Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

The regional aviation body Pacific Aviation Safety Office (P.A.S.O.) recommended against issuing a certificate of airworthiness for the leased Boeing 737-800 that was subsequently terminated. 

The Minister of Works in a recent parliament debate said the main reason behind the plane being parked in Brisbane was due to unsatisfactory technical requirements. 

“P.A.S.O. could not continue with technical checks because the Samoa Airways could not provide information that was needed to complete the checks,” said Olo. 

“They have recommended to the Ministry of Works through the Civil Aviation that it could not issue the certificate of airworthiness because of dissatisfactory on the aircraft technical requirement.”

The Boeing 737-800 was able to fly from London to Australia using a cargo licence, according to Olo, though he clarified that for the plane to operate commercial flights it had to comply with increased safety requirements. The abandoned lease has a $180 million price tag.