From the House, by Pesi Fonua

Tonga will have a new national domestic airline, flying by early 2013, the Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Samiu Vaipulu told the Tongan Parliament on Monday, June 18.

 He told the House that the government had signed a USD$25 million grant agreement with the People's Republic of China the week before, so that the construction of the new aircraft could go ahead and the preparations for the new domestic air service for Tonga could start. It will be Tonga's second domestic air service.

He said that the USD$25m grant agreement included the cost of the new aircraft, the recruitment of pilots and engineers to run the aircraft for three years, and the sending of Tongans to be trained as aircraft engineers and pilots in China. The grant would also cover a three-years supply of spare parts for the aircraft.

No amount shown in budget

The issue was raised by People's Representative 'Aisake Eke when he queried the inclusion of a national airline in the national budget, but no amount was mentioned.

The Minister of Finance, Hon. Lisiate 'Akolo, responded that an aircraft would be given to Tonga by the People's Republic of China, and there was no allocation in the 2012-13 budget for the new National Airline, because the airline would be operated by private companies.

He said that they had not finalized their decision on how the airline would be managed, but government would not make any financial commitment to its operation, even though the aircraft itself would be given to the Tongan government by China.

He said that a task force had been formed to look at the number of options of how structure an entity to administer the new domestic air service. One option was for the government to lease the aircraft to a partnership between a government-owned company and a private company to administer the new domestic air service, but he emphasized that government would make no financial commitment to the running of the domestic air service, not even to guarantee loans or bank overdrafts for the new airline.

Government debt

The Tongan government debt is said to be the equivalent of 45 percent of its Gross Domestic Products GDP, which is considered to be a very depressed state.

The Minister of Finance emphasized that there was an understanding between the Tonga government and foreign aid donors that there would be no government loan.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Hon.  Vaipulu said that in early July a pilot from the Ministry and an aviation engineer from the private sector, Tevita Palu, would be sent  to Laos and China to observe the operation of this type of aircraft.

He said that by September or October Tongans would be recruited to be trained as pilots and aviation engineers in China.

He was convinced that the time was right for such a project, because in spite of a global financial crisis, the world economy would recover, and Tonga should prepare to take advantage of that opportunity when it arises, he told the House.