Alii Palau Airlines (Koror) has paused its flights on the Koror-Singapore Changi city pair less than a month after debuting the service using an A320-200N chartered from Drukair (KB, Paro).
First reported by the Island Times, Alii Palau last operated the weekly Singapore service, the carrier's only route, on December 14. ADS-B tracking data supports this. The airline launched the flights, the sole direct service on the city pair, on November 23, 2023. The newspaper cited its director, Glenn Seid, as saying the pause was due to a lack of passenger demand, ostensibly caused by a rise in Covid-19 cases in Singapore. He said he hoped Alii Palau would resume operations in February.
The startup had hoped to increase its weekly roundtrips to twice-weekly before Christmas. However, Alii Palau chartered the Drukair Airbus just four times - on November 23, November 30, December 7, and December 14 - before suspending the service.
ch-aviation has contacted Alii Palau Airlines and Drukair for comment.
The newspaper notes that Alii Palau Airlines is the third operator to suspend its Koror flights in early 2024, with Lanmei Airlines also temporarily halting its regular Macau International-Koror passenger charters, while Cambodia Airways, which operates on the same route, is now regularly cancelling its scheduled charters. Air Niugini, Cambodia Angkor Air, China Airlines, Air Nauru, and United Airlines continue to operate scheduled passenger flights into the small Pacific island country.
