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| Airlines
flying to and in the Pacific |
| Airlines of Tonga
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Airlines of Tonga is the national carrier,
providing the only inter-island scheduled air service linking Tongatapu
with 'Eua, Ha'apai and Vava'u. Inter-island fares are very
reasonable. National flag carrier Airlines of Tonga now looks set for
a much smoother ride ahead after going through rough patches over the last
couple of years.
Airlines of Tonga is owned by the Tongan
government but is run on commercial lines. Its chief executive officer
Geoff Bowmaker admits in the early years it was a drain on the country's
resources but now it was turning round and he expected by the end of the
next two years it should start to make a profit.
Domestic Services |
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| The island hoppers
airplanes used for inter-island flights are reasonably comfortable and
maintain daily services to the outer islands of Vavaś and Eua. Other
links in the Tongan chain are provided by Royal Tongan's two Twin Otters
airplanes, including services to Ha'apai twice a week, to Niuatoputapu and
to its northermost island of Niuafo'ou. |
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| International Services
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Airlines of Tonga has leased a 737-300
aircraft from Air Pacific, to maintain its international services to New
Zealand, Samoa and Fiji. Airlines of Tonga has codeshare flights with
Air New Zealand on the routes to New Zealand, Australia, Samoa and
Honolulu.
It has leased recently a 40 seat HS 748 aircraft
from Mt Cook Airlines, to fly on the route via Vava'u to Nadi in Fiji.
Through its lease of the Hawker Sidley S748 Twin Otter, Royal Tongan has
reopened links with Niue, starting with a once a week service which has
now been extended to twice a week, providing good connections with both
its own services and those of Air New Zealand over Tonga. |
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| Flight
Schedule |
| Airlines of Tonga
flies regular flights between Sydney-Auckland-Tongatapu, Nadi-Tongatapu as
well as regular flights between Auckland-Tongatapu-Hawai'i. Daily flights
are offered between Tongatapu-Ha'apai-Vava'u as well as the closer flight
Tongatapu-'Eua. These daily flights do not include Sunday services, which
is a restricted services day in the Kingdom of Tonga. Flights to the
outer-island Niua group is infrequent, due to the small population -- lack
of demand, but one often hears about at least one-flight per month.
Airlines of Tonga also provides the flight
service to Niue which links together with the flight scheduled from New
Zealand |
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- Tonga <-+-> Auckland (shared with Air
Pacific)
- Tonga <-+-> Nadi/Sydney (shared with Air
Pacific)
- Tonga <-+-> Honolulu (shared with Air
New Zealand)
- Tonga <-+-> Niue/Apia/Nadi
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| Classes & service |
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Royal Tongan offers 2 Classes - Economy and Business.
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Business:
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- Baggage allowance is 30kg per person
plus 2-piece hand luggage.
- Transit lounge
- Separate check-in
- Special baggage handling
- First aboard the aircraft priority
- Separate seating and special services
on board including special meals prepared and unlimited complementary drinks
- In-flight duty-free shopping
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Economy:
- Baggage allowance is 20 kg per person
plus 1 piece hand luggage
- Complimentary meals and drinks
- In-flight duty free-shopping
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| For
more information on Airlines of Tonga, go to: |
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