Results for Travel

Tourism operators in Tonga's top destination, say Vava'u is once again being crippled by a lack of air services. The Tonga government-owned Lulutai Airlines withdrew the services of its main SAAB340 aircraft from 17 January 2023, and there's no indication of when a replacement might come into service for the Vava'u and Ha'apai groups.

The Zuiderdam cruise ship arrived Nuku'alofa for an overnight visit on 27 October bringing over 2000 passengers and crew.

Paul Gauguin arrived in Nuku'alofa on the morning of 3 October, the first cruise ship welcomed onto our shores in two and a half-years, since the border closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With hugs and tears families were reunited at Tonga's Fua'amotu International Airport, after arriving on the first flight as Tonga re-opened its international border with zero quarantine, on Monday 1 August. Lu’isa Sakalia, from Ma'ufanga kissed her young nephew and held him tight.

Tonga's borders will open on 1 August, with the number of weekly flights increasing slowly over the next two months, the Tonga Government announced last night. Adults must prove they are vaccinated for COVID-19 (unless exempted) with at least two doses, and all passengers must have a supervised negative rapid antigen test (RAT) before departure.

Tonga is looking for an incremental border re-opening in August, said MEIDECC CEO Paula Ma’u today, and the good news is that the government may hand back incoming bookings to the airlines from mid-July.

Tonga won the BIE Gold Award for exhibition design at the Expo 2020 Dubai on March 30, for its “supreme aesthetic functionality with extraordinary visitor discovery” in the the Opportunity District, Interior Design Category.

Tonga has reduced its Managed Isolation Quarantine (MIQ) requirement for international arrivals from 21 to 15 days, for the 180 repatriates who arrived at Fua'amotu International Airport yesterday, on three flights coming from New Zealand, Fiji, and Australia.

Repatriation flights to Tonga from Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji (for stranded passengers), and possibly Samoa have been confirmed tentatively for January 18 next year, MEIDECC CEO Paula Ma'u told Matangi Tonga this afternoon. A repatriation flight from New Zealand that was scheduled for January 11 has been delayed and confirmed tentatively for January 20.