Fiji Airways Managing Director and CEO, Andre Viljoen is confident that the national airline company will have the competitive edge after getting the two new A350s as it will assist Fiji Airways to mitigate some of the significant financial losses after Qantas introduced flights from Sydney to Nadi.
Viljoen says the losses are estimated to be $55 million in 2019 as a consequence of Fiji Airways shareholder, Qantas, introducing non-stop flights from Australia to Fiji in March 2019. He says this is in direct competition with Fiji Airways.
Viljoen says the state of the art A350 aircraft will give Fiji Airways a competitive edge over their competitors in the region, none of whom operate the A350.
Viljoen says after the arrival of the second A350 last night, their fleet consists of two A350s, five A330-200s and one A330-300, three Boeing 737s, one Boeing 737 on wet-lease from Malindo Air while the MAX planes are grounded, three ATR aircrafts (2 ATR 72-600s and 1 ATR 42-600) and four DHC-6 Series 400 Twin Otter aircraft.
Viljoen says the A350s are proudly named ‘Island of Viti Levu’ and ‘Island of Vanua Levu’.
He says they replace our two 14 year-old A330s.
Viljoen says Fiji Airways acquired and leased the new A350s without any funding from shareholders or third parties, other than the lessor, DAE Capital.
He says the airline company connects Fiji to the world, carrying more than 65% of all arriving visitors, and is a significant contributor to the Fijian economy.
Viljoen says Fiji Airways is the largest foreign currency generator in Fiji, with a billion dollar turnover. He also says the net proceeds of all Fiji Airways tickets sold flow into Fiji and support the Fijian economy unlike foreign airlines who operate to and from Fiji.
He further says that the additional A350 seats and 20-tonne cargo capacity will assist Fiji Airways achieve its strategic role in the Pacific region – to support and develop tourism and trade.
