Samoa Airways (OL, Apia Faleolo) will lease a B737 from Icelandair Group for its launch on November 12, Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi has announced.
In an interview with the Talamua news site, Malielegaoi said the nascent carrier, successor to Virgin Samoa (Apia Faleolo), would launch with one aircraft initially.
“The plan is for Samoa Airways to concentrate on the Apia-Auckland International, Apia-Sydney Kingsford Smith and Apia-Brisbane International routes,” he said. “Research confirmed that the three routes have huge revenue potentials and it fits perfectly with our partnership with Fiji Airways (FJ, Nadi). That partnership is designed for both airlines to share the revenues in terms of tickets sold.”
For its part, the partnership is Icelandair Group's second in the region. At present, Air Niugini (PX, Port Moresby) leases a pair of Icelandair-owned B767-300(ER)s from Loftleidir Icelandic (Reykjavik Keflavik).
Icelandair was not immediately available for comment.
