A Tonga government-owned company, the Tonga Airports Ltd (TAL) will take over the management of all airports in Tonga on January 1, 2007.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation stated this afternoon that TAL has been registered under the Public Enterprises Act, "to ensure that TAL is subject to appropriate financial checks and balances on the Companies Act."

An Interim Board has also been appointed to direct the operation of the new company. The board members are the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Transport and the Attorney General.

The government had taken this decision on the basis that the current departmental airport operating environment is unsustainable, and that "to facilitate the future sustainability of Tonga's airports, it was very important to move from a situation where airports are operated, managed and funded by government to one where the discipline of good commercial practice and strong and independent financial management can be applied," the Ministry of Civil Aviation stated.

"Further, this will have the positive effect that the normal operations of all the airports can be removed from the Government of Tonga budget. The decision was also supported by the need to separate airport operations and regulation in the interests of good governance."

They stated the move will allow the airports, "to be placed on a commercial footing while retaining this vital national asset in Government hands. It introduces the financial discipline of business management and provides for a commercial approach to operating airports that will see early recovery of asset value and real improvements to infrastructure and amenity at the airports."