Fiji Airways (FJ, Nadi) chief executive Andre Viljoen has provided some further information on his airline's American ambitions. In comments to Australian travel trade portal Latte Luxury News this week, he named three US cities and South America as possible future destinations.
“The purpose of that lease is to possibly go deeper into the US, looking at a Dallas/Fort Worth for example," Viljoen said, referring to plans to acquire two more A350-900s to supplement the airline's existing pair of the type. Viljoen told ch-aviation recently that he hopes to have the extra two aircraft by March 2023.
"We can even look at other markets. There’s Chicago O'Hare as well, there’s Houston Intercontinental. We’ll do our homework before we decide which one. We fly to every country that rims the Pacific except for South America, so maybe there’s an option there one day. Argentina, Brazil or any one of those countries. It’s uncertain at this stage but it would be a great opportunity."
While there are currently no scheduled passenger flights between Fiji and any South American country, Viljoen also ruled out the possibility of services to New York JFK, saying flying there non-stop from Nadi was beyond the A350-900's range. Notably, regional rival Air New Zealand (NZ, Auckland International) flies to New York JFK from Auckland, albeit using B787-9s while Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) plans to start flights on the same route in June 2023 also using B787-9s.
Meanwhile, Viljoen says he is keen to upgrade Fiji Airways' status as a Oneworld connect member and get more value out of the alliance. It is a privilege to be a member, he said, but "we are pushing all the time to get more out of the arrangement."
