By JYOTI PRATIBHA
It was truly an end to the Air Pacific era as Fiji Airways yesterday officially retired its leased Boeing 747.
Managing director/chief executive Stefan Pichler together, with Fiji Airways staff members gathered to bid farewell to the aircraft which joined the fleet in 2003.
Since joining the fleet, this aircraft had done approximately 100,000 hours of flying, 15,860 landings for Fiji Airways and has been described as a very, very reliable aircraft.
Mr Pichler said the retirement of the aircraft was a bittersweet moment for them.
“I have a tear in one eye because it is a time to say goodbye and a smile in the other eye because we are retiring four engines,” he said.
“This is replaced by two engines of the Airbus A330s which is much more fuel efficient and much more efficient generally.
“We are saying goodbye to this aircraft but we are welcoming a bright future.”
The aircraft made its last flight from Los Angeles to Nadi on Friday and will be returned to its US-based owners by November 26.
The end of the Boeing 747 era continues. Airlines such as Singapore Airline and Cathay Pacific phased out their B747s in 2012.
Performance review
Fiji Airways is embarking on a five-year plan which includes reviewing the performance of their aircraft as well.
Mr Pichler said: “Right now, we have mixed fleet at the Fiji Airways. We have the Airbus A330s, the Boeing B737s and ATR, Twin Otters (Pacific Sun).
“We are of course working on a five-year plan which will define additional destination, this will define growth, and then we have to look at the aircraft.
“We will look at each aircraft platform, we will look at the fact whether we need one more A330 or whatever, or another B737.”
More cargo deals expected
Fiji Airways recently inked a deal with Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates.
The newly-signed agreement sees both airlines offer rates for seamless carriage of cargo between Fiji and the Middle East and Europe.
Fijian exporters will now be able to send their exports to these markets from Nadi on Fiji Airways to Sydney or Auckland, and then onto Emirates SkyCargo’s global network.
Mr Pichler said this was not the last deal they will sign for better carriage of cargo from Fiji.
He said concerns had been raised about the A330s cargo capacity compared to the 747s. These concerns were taken onboard by the national carrier and a solution was sought.
“We know with the A330 we offer a little less cargo capacity than the B747s,” he said.
“I believe the exporters were asking why we changed the aircraft but we have tried to compensate for that. We have made a deal with Emirates for cargo.
“But this is not the last deal we have made.”
Search for new routes
Government budgeted $1.8million in 2014 to allow Fiji Airways to look for new routes.
Mr Pichler said work was in progress to identify new routes.
However, he said new routes would only be explored if it was a financially-viable option for the airline.
“We are in the process of evaluating where to fly. We will only fly to other destinations if we make money but I think there are many options,” he said.
Options for new routes include Singapore and Shanghai, China.
“If we look at tourism perspective, there are a lot of market in South East Asia and Asia in general which are growing at a very fast pace so we have to keep up,” Mr Pichler said.
Fiji Airways marketing representative, Cecil Leger, signs on the Boeing 747 that was farewelled by Fiji Airways management and staff members yesterday. Photo: RAEVENN BREEN