Peau Vavaʻu

Peau Vavaʻu Ltd (or Air Waves of Vavaʻu) was an airline based at the Pacific Royale Hotel in Nukuʻalofa, Tongatapu, Tonga.[1] It operated domestic services. Its main base was Fuaʻamotu International Airport, Tongatapu, with hubs at Lifuka Island Airport and Vavaʻu International Airport.[2]

Fua'amoto International Airport

Peau Vavaʻu
IATA ICAO Callsign
3O PVU Peau
Founded27 May 2004
Commenced operations6 June 2004
Ceased operationsNovember 2007
Operating basesFua'amotu International Airport
Hubs
HeadquartersNukuʻalofa, Tongatapu, Tonga
Key people
  • George Tupou V Owner
  • Joseph Ramanlal Owner Director
  • Soane Ramanlal Secretary

History

Peau Vavaʻu was formed in May 2004 following the wake of the collapse of Royal Tongan Airlines.[3] The airline was 50% owned by Crown Prince Tupouto'a.[4] It began operations on 9 June 2004, using a Douglas DC-3 leased from New Zealand company Pion Air.[5] In August 2004 the company was awarded a monopoly on domestic air transport under a new "one airline" policy,[6] forcing the competing Fly Niu Airlines to cease operations.[7][8] In August 2004 it announced the addition of a Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander to its fleet.[9] In November 2004 it added a chartered De Havilland Canada Dash 8.[10] that same month a test flight to ʻEua Airport overshot the runway, resulting in a flat tyre.[11]

A second DC-3 arrived by Christmas 2004, when Peau Vavaʻu purchased both DC-3s from Pion Air. In March 2005 Peau Vavaʻu arranged to sublease an Air Chathams Convair aircraft from Reef Shipping, which had set up an airline in Niue.[12] In February 2005 the airline was criticised for the high fares it proposed charging for flights to Niuatoputapu.[13] In October 2005 the Tongan government threatened to withdraw the airline's monopoly after it had failed to service the Niua Islands.[14][15] The monopoly was finally withdrawn and the "one airline" policy overturned in May 2006.[16]

Flights were temporarily suspended in November 2006 when their corporate headquarters were destroyed during the 2006 Nukuʻalofa riots. Flights were planned to resume in May 2007.[17][18] However, the airline never flew again,[19] and its license was eventually surrendered in January 2008.[20]

Destinations

Peau Vavaʻu operated scheduled flights to Tongatapu, Haʻapai, and Vavaʻu.[21]

Fleet

The Peau Vavaʻu fleet included the following aircraft:[4]

Code data

References
  1. "Contact Information for Peau Vavaʻu." Peau Vavaʻu. 12 June 2007. Retrieved on 20 January 2011. "Peau Vava'u Limited Pacific Royale Hotel Taufa'ahau Road Nuku'alofa Kingdom of Tonga"
  2. "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 10 April 2007. p. 62.
  3. "Tonga gets a new domestic air service". RNZ. 26 May 2004. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  4. Peau Vava'u History (website) Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "NZ airline flies between Tonga's islands". RNZ. 10 June 2004. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  6. "No royal hand in choosing airline, says Tonga official". RNZ. 17 August 2004. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  7. "COURT RULING GROUNDS FLEDGLING TONGA AIRLINE". Pacific Islands Report. 9 September 2004. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  8. "Tongan airline forced to cease operations under one-airline policy". RNZ. 8 September 2004. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  9. "TONGA AIRLINE TO GET THIRD AIRCRAFT". Pacific Islands Report. 24 August 2004. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  10. "AIRLINE BEGINS SERVICE BETWEEN SAMOAS, TONGA". Pacific Islands Report. 8 November 2004. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  11. "Tonga air official denies tyre blowout report". RNZ. 26 November 2004. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  12. "Reef Shipping to set up airline in Niue". RNZ. 2 March 2005. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  13. "Tongan MP speaks out against proposed airfares to northern outer islands". RNZ. 2 February 2005. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  14. "DEADLINE EXPIRES ON STRUGGLING TONGAN AIRLINE". Pacific Islands Report. 28 October 2005. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  15. "Tonga ponders allowing second domestic airline". RNZ. 31 October 2005. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  16. "Tonga changes airline policy". RNZ. 2 May 2006. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  17. "Air Peau Vava'u plans resumption of Tonga flights". RNZ. 9 May 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  18. "TONGA'S PEAU VAVAU AIRLINE PLANS RETURN TO SERVICE". Pacific Islands Report. 2 April 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  19. "TONGA AIRLINE PEAU VAVAU STILL SIDELINED". Pacific Islands Report. 24 January 2008. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  20. "Tonga's second domestic airline likely to start in April". RNZ. 22 February 2008. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  21. "Peau Vavaʻu Schedules (website)". Archived from the original on 18 February 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
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