Tonga will ratify the Pacific Island Air Service Agreement (PIASA) in October, according to Tonga's new Minister for Civil Aviation, Hon. Paul Karalus.

Paul said that the Open Sky Policy concept is within Tonga's General Air Policy and therefore Tonga will ratify PIASA during the 2006 Pacific Island Leaders Forum meeting in Nuku'alofa in October.

PIASA was presented during the 2003 Forum Island Leaders Meeting in Auckland, New Zealand, in which eight Pacific Forum Island countries originally signed the agreement, including Tonga, Cook Islands, Nauru, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. However, the agreement has not come into force, because it needs at least six ratifications but to date only Samoa and Cook Islands have ratified PIASA.

Opposition

PIASA became a controversial issue in the region recently following an opposition to the agreement by John Campbell, the Chief Executive Officer of Fiji's national airline, Air Pacific.

The " Island Business" magazine, of August, reported that Australia through the Suva-based Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat was getting island governments to sign and ratify PIASA. The Secretariat argued that PIASA would open airline routes in the Pacific to all islands' airlines instead of flights restricted by bilateral agreements negotiated by governments.

But John Campbell, who is also the chairman of the Association of South Pacific Airlines, (ASPA) claimed that PIASA had been oversold to island governments and other stakeholders.

"We believe PIASA will not and cannot deliver the touted benefits," said John. "Traffic rights do not create flights. Markets create flights so if there is no traffic between two points then a proliferation of traffic rights will not create flights.

"PIASA advocates claim that flights will be created, airline frequency will be increased, airfares and cargo rates will be reduced, and unserved markets will receive flights. We are a practical, experienced and knowledgeable operator and we say these claims are absolute nonsense!" he stated.

Tonga

Hon. Paul Karalus, however, said that Tonga's stance on PIASA is that it would make it easier for air travellers to travel across the Pacific, from East to West. But the desire for an Open Sky Policy over the Pacific has been complicated by the refusal by Fiji to be a signatory to PIASA, because the Nadi International Airport, at the moment is the main gateway for air travellers to the region.

He believed that Fiji's refusal to be a signatory to PIASA may trigger the development of other gateways, "for example we might see Samoa opening up a larger gateway."

Paul said that Tonga's ratification of PIASA would allow Tonga's two airlines Air Peau Vava...’u and Airline Tonga, "which we designate as our foreign carriers to, either on their own or with conjunction with other carriers, fly to other Forum countries that we currently do not have any Bilateral Agreements with."

At present Tonga has two bilateral agreements, with Samoa and Fiji, and an Open Sky Agreement with New Zealand. Australia still has certain restrictions in its air agreement with Tonga.