A M-60 aircraft gifted to Tonga from China is expected to arrive in early July. The aircraft owned by the Tongan Government will be operated by Real Tonga Airline under a dry-lease arrangement, the Acting Prime Minister Hon. Samiu Vaipulu said today.

He told Matangi Tonga that the 52-seater aircraft was expected to arrive in the first week of July to start servicing the outer islands.

Government will lease the aircraft to Real Tonga, Tonga's sole domestic carrier. "The airline is lucky because under this dry-leasing arrangement we are giving them the whole package from the aircraft to its spare parts, which is expected to arrive from China in June," he said.

Tonga has completed work relating to the aircraft's airworthiness certification according to the Rules and Regulation of the International Civil Aviation Organization, of which Tonga is a member, and officials from the Pacific Aviation Safety office (PASO) have been in Tonga and approved the work done, he said.

He expected two smaller 19-seater aircrafts to arrive from China sometime early next year.

Grant

Tonga in June last year signed a USD$25m grant agreement with China, under which China would provide Tonga an aircraft for its domestic air service, the training of Tongan pilots and engineers, and the maintenance of the aircraft for three years.

This aircraft was supposed to provide a second domestic air service for Tonga, but instead forced Tonga's then existing domestic airline, Chathams Pacific out of Tonga because it claimed that the domestic market was too small for two airlines.

Real Tonga operated by Palu Aviation Ltd. then stepped in and took over as sole carrier by leasing an aircraft from Vanuatu and began services on March 4.