Tonga might possibly have a new domestic air service operating by June 9, but nobody knows for sure how or when a new service can become operational.

It's a question that worried tourist operators, stranded local people and frustrated visitors to Tonga have been asking since the Royal Tongan Airlines domestic service came to a sudden end on May 17.

Meanwhile unlicensed air operators are selling tickets for flights that have not happened.

Although there was talk that nine applications for a domestic air service licence had been lodged with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Director of Civil Aviation Viliami Ma'ake said on May 28 that only one airline, Pion Air of New Zealand had applied.

There were also letters of intent to offer a domestic service from Teta Tours and Fly Niu Airlines.

While safety assessments were still being carried out, Pion Air with its local affiliation Vava'u Airwave went public and advertised its flying schedule and airfares. It even started selling tickets for its first flight advertised on Saturday May 29, but the flight did not happen.

Viliami Ma'ake said that Pion Air is a New Zealand company currently flying domestically in New Zealand and therefore the Civil Aviation of New Zealand first had to grant Pion Air with a license to come and operate domestically in Tonga, and after that the next step was for Pion Air to apply for a licence to operate in Tonga.

Normally this kind of application takes about 90 days to be finalised and Pion Air just submitted its application on May 17 so it has not been a month yet.

Meanwhile the Fly Niu Airlines on May 31 announced that a Dash 8 aircraft would arrive in Tonga on June 3, and their operation would start on June 9, but no one knows under what licensing.

The collapse of RTA and the sudden end of its domestic service is a devastating blow to the Tongan economy, because it came at the beginning of the tourist season, when thousands of visitors want to travel to the outer islands particularly to Vava'u, the tourist centre of Tonga. The first whales for the season have been spotted this week, but the tourists can't get to Vava'u to enjoy them.

The demand for transport is heavy also because the annual conference of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga will run from June 16 -24 in Neiafu, Vava'u. The annual conference of the Free Wesleyan Church usually attracts 1,200 overseas Tongans, in something like a religious pilgramage, during which the participants pray and attend religious feasts.

The transport problem was further compounded when the one of two ferries that serviced the Tongatapu, Ha'apai and Vava'u route, the MV Pulupaki went aground on Hakauloa Reef on May 26.

To find a solution to the problem the Ministry of Civil Aviation has been encouraging interesting parties to submit applications for a licence to operate the domestic air service.