by James Ruggia
Last updated: 10:53 AM ET, Fri January 24, 2014
A couple of weeks ago, when Fiji Airways (FA) unveiled details of its new five-year masterplan, Managing Director and CEO Stefan Pichler seemed to throw down the gauntlet saying, "Our aim is to be a world-class airline matched by an ambitious but solid financial plan that expands on current successes and takes our airline to a new level."
Approved by the FA board in December, the masterplan "will focus on a sustainable financial performance as well as on growth in terms of number of aircraft, destinations, passengers and staff," said Pichler.
"It will obviously grow the tourism market for Fiji as a destination. As we aim to become one of the world's leading boutique airlines, we want to ensure sustainable growth for Fiji's all important tourism industry, and we will help position Fiji as a niche destination, not a discount destination."
Tourism Permanent Secretary Elizabeth Powell's recent description of FA as "Fiji's flying billboard" underscores Fiji tourism's reliance on the airline. "These aircraft are also going to key markets throughout the world such as Australia, New Zealand and the US, and they are showing Fiji in a totally different light," said Powell.
"While our plan was developed independently from Fiji Tourism, it recognizes and builds on the aspirations of Fiji," said Pichler.
The plan will increase FA's fleet size by 25 percent with new A330-200, B737-800s and ATR72-600s aircrafts. The additional aircraft will support plans to increase the number of available seats and passengers across all markets by 35 percent and 39 percent, respectively.
FA hopes to make Fiji both a strong destination on its own and also a portal to a wider region. FA sees Fiji as a potential gateway via FA into the Pacific. Besides flying to source markets in Australia, New Zealand, USA and Hong Kong, FA also offers a South Pacific network joining Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
"We are a key player in Pacific aviation and we are well placed to lead growth in this market," said Pichler. "We want to position Nadi as the hub of the South Pacific and we are going to increase capacity significantly into our regional Pacific island destinations. We want to bring the world to Fiji and the rest of the South Pacific, and we want to take customers from Fiji and the South Pacific to the rest of the world.
"We've got a great geographical position, a leading consumer brand, new aircraft, a well-balanced network and the critical mass to create hub traffic. We still need to work hard to reach this position, but yes, we will get there."
From Los Angeles and Honolulu FA flies up to 10 flights per week using Airbus 330 aircraft. Fiji Airways is also a partner in American Airlines AAdvantage and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan programs.
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