Celebrating the resilience and strength of the country and all Fijians - Viljoen

It is a celebration of the resilience and strength of the country and all Fijians.

Fiji Airways Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Andre Viljoen highlighted this by saying it is a momentous day not just for Fiji Airways, but for the whole country, marking the first anniversary of the border opening post COVID.

Viljoen says it will go down in history as the day that Fiji took the first and biggest step in recovery and resurgence by opening its borders to international visitors.

He says the national airline played a vital role in being ready to fly in hundreds of tourists including former Fijians who had not been able to travel for close to two years.

The CEO says they provided the only connection to the outside world until other carriers who saw the success of our operation, decided they too wanted to fly in and out of Fiji.

He says his fondest memories of December 1st will be the smiling faces of tourists exiting Nadi International Airport, loved ones reuniting, and the emotions of tourism workers who saw their livelihoods return.

Viljoen says being READY took a consolidated and concerted effort involving Fiji Airways, the Ministry of Health, Airports Fiji, the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association and numerous other government and international agencies.

He says they put their resources together and developed a framework that allowed visitors to travel freely, in a COVID safe manner.

The CEO says every contingency was taken into consideration.

He says their Travel Ready Framework, pioneered by Fiji Airways has received two international awards, Diamond Certification the highest award for APEX Health and Safety, and SKYTRAX 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating.

Viljoen says at Fiji Airways they never lost sight of what the airline means to the country, and how they contribute to the economy.

He says at the height of the pandemic, they were looking to the future busy planning for when borders re-opened, and the thought of failure never crossed their mind because the country was relying on them.

The CEO says by December 1st all their months of meticulous strategising and preparation came into play with more than 800 tourists arriving on four flights.

He says it went seamlessly with an efficient, effective and pleasant experience for tourists coming into Fiji for their much needed holiday, without the fear of COVID.

The CEO says they were miles ahead of many other Pacific Island countries and indeed, other much larger nations in other parts of the world.

He says since then, we have seen sustained visitor arrivals over the last 12 months.

Viljoen says what may have started off as pent up demand for travel after two years of lock-downs, but that is no longer the case.

He says they survived the pandemic, and now they are thriving.

For the last five months up to October, we have been receiving above 60,000 visitors.

The CEO says welcomed 497,086 people to our shores from January to October, and 70% of these people were brought in by Fiji Airways.

He says as at October, they have reached 90.6% of visitor arrivals compared to 2019, but the news gets even better.

The CEO says bookings are growing at an average rate of 6% every week.

He says bookings held for the 6 months from October 2022 to March 2023 are 503,741 compared to just over 400,000 for the same period in 2019.

The CEO says this is an increase of 20.5% despite 30% of our network still not operating.

Viljoen says by country, Australia is 24.3% ahead of 2019, News Zealand 24% and the United states 10.5%. And with our flights to Vancouver now available, we expect the numbers to keep getting better.

The CEO says the amount of work we put into making the national carrier a better airline post COVID is exemplified in the number of international awards we have won.

He says Fiji Day, they publicly committed themselves to working as one to deliver exceptional experiences.

Viljoen says this is part of their journey to reach the pinnacle of the aviation industry by becoming a WorldClass airline.

He says Fiji Airways has always been and will continue to be a strategic national asset.

The CEO says the airline will endure any obstacle and come out fighting for the sake of the economy, the country and all Fijians.

Viljoen says as we reflect on the year that has passed, he wants to acknowledge all the hard working staff of Fiji Airways for helping the airline thrive, the government for its support during some difficult times, and all stakeholders who came together to realize their vision of reviving the tourism industry.