The New Zealand Government stepped up its travel advisory for visitors to Tonga, as the MA-60 aircraft, operated by REAL Tonga started commercial passenger flights to Vava‘u on Saturday August 10.

New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully expressed his ongoing concerns about the safety of operating the aircraft under the Tongan conditions.

"The MA-60 has been the subject of serious concerns amongst aviation experts. It is not certified to fly in New Zealand and would not be allowed to do so without a thorough certification process under Civil Aviation rules. The MA-60 is not certified by comparable jurisdictions such as the European Aviation Safety Agency (EU), the Federal Aviation Administration (US) and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (AUS),” Mr McCully stated.

“In the absence of an internationally respected certification process for Tongan conditions, it is the government’s obligation to draw the attention of the travelling public to these issues and our Tongan travel advisory has been updated accordingly.

“The New Zealand Government has put support for the Tongan tourism industry on hold, and we will not be spending taxpayer money promoting tourism in Tonga until we are satisfied with the safety and reliability of this new air service.

“We are in discussions with the Tongan Government on this issue. I reiterate my offer of support to Tonga to assist them in ensuring aviation safety, a critical component of tourism in the Pacific islands,” Mr McCully stated.

MFAT also stated that the MA-60 aircraft had been involved in a significant number of accidents in the last few years and that travellers utilising the MA-60 do so at their own risk.