Niutoputapu flights to resume in November [1]
Monday, October 19, 2009 - 13:01. Updated on Thursday, August 21, 2014 - 16:04.
Niuatoputapu flights will resume in November, the Chatham Pacific Airline, Tonga's sole domestic carrier, told Matangi Tonga on October 16.
The domestic air service to Niuatoputapu had ceased weeks before the tsunami of September 30, because the beacon at the runway was not working, and according to the director of operations for Tonga Airports Ltd., Viliami Ma'ake, they had not been able to fix the beacon because there was no ferry service and no transport to the island. The last ferry service to Niuatoputapu was on July 27.
But Viliami said that a post that they had been waiting for had arrived from New Zealand and they were able to send it to Niuatoputapu onboard the HMNZS Canterbury earlier last week, and technicians were there installing the post, "and the beacon will probably be switched on and operating in the weekend. After it is switched on it is up to the airline when to start flying to Niuatoputapu."
Isolation
Meanwhile, Niuatoputapu residents remain isolated.
Laura Jeffery, the Matangi Tonga correspondent on the island said that although the airport was reopened within days of the tsunami, Niuatoputapu is still without a scheduled flight service. "With no ferry either, any family or relatives trying to fly from or to the island are reliant on the occasional naval vessel making the voyage.
"Niuatoputapu's airport had already been closed for two weeks before the tsunami due to a broken beacon. After the tsunami the airfield needed clearing but was then quickly put into use both for emergency flights by the army and also charter flights with Chathams Pacific, which brought in for example a group of Mormon missionaries, and aid workers."
Laura said they were told that Chathams was unable to get permission from the New Zealand aviation authority for commercial flights until the beacon itself is fixed. The recent charter flights and army flights navigated with the aid of GPS.
"So, for the time being at least, with no reliable transport links, the familiar feeling of isolation from the rest of the world continues for the people of Niuatoputapu," said Laura.