Royal Tongan Airlines

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Royal Tongan Airlines
IATA WR	ICAO HRH	Callsign TONGA ROYAL
Founded		1985
Ceased operations		2004
Hubs		Fuaʻamotu International Airport
Fleet size
Destinations
Headquarters		Nukuʻalofa, Tonga
Key people

Royal Tongan Airlines was the national airline of Tonga until liquidation in 2004. It was a government agency and operated interisland services and international routes. Royal Tongan Airlines domestic services were soon replaced by Peau Vavaʻu.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 History 2 Destinations 3 Fleet 4 External links 5 References

[edit] History

Royal Tongan Airlines traces its origins back to 1985, when the kingdom bought a small fleet of aircraft and opened interisland air routes. It was formerly known as Friendly Islands Airways and became Royal Tongan Airlines in May 1991. International services began in July 1991. It suspended international operations on 23 April 2004 and suspended regional flights in May 2004 ^[1]. The national airline closed after the carrier ran out of cash for repairs. This followed a mechanical failure which grounded Royal Tongan Airlines last remaining aircraft in May 2004. It had been facing an uncertain future since April 2004, when its only aircraft serving international routes was repossessed ^[2].

[edit] Destinations

The airline operated the following services^{[citation needed]} :

• Domestic destinations:linking Nukuʻalofa with 'Eua, Ha'apai, Vava'u and Niuas,
• International destinations: Honolulu, Hawai'i, United States; Sydney, Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; Nadi, Fiji; and Niue.

[edit] Fleet

Royal Tongan Airlines operated a Boeing 757 on its international routes^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] External links

• Royal Tongan Airlines official website - pre 2002 at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine
• Royal Tongan Airlines official website - post 2002 at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine
• former Royal Tongan website accessed 18 July 2005 - maintained to retain historical information.

[edit] References