Fagali'i Airport is a disused

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

located in

Fagali'i Fagali'i or Fagali'i-uta is a village on the island of Upolu in the Samoa archipelago approximately 5 kilometres south-east of Apia. It is in the electoral constituency of Vaimauga East (''faipule district'') which forms part of the larger politica ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

. It has operated intermittently since 1970.

History

In 1939 the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

colonial administration decided to construct two military airfields in Samoa, one each for land- and sea-planes. The land-based airfield was to be located on land from the Vailele plantation of the government-owned Reparation Estates near Fagali'i, and the site was surveyed. The plans were later abandoned, but in 1969 construction finally began. Flights to

Pago Pago Pago Pago ( ; Samoan: )Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). ''Geology of National Parks''. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. . is the territorial capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County on Tutuila, which is American Samoa's main island. ...

were operating by April 1970. Initially a grass-only airstrip, Fagali'i was paved and reopened on 6 July 2002 under the exclusive operation of

Polynesian Airlines Samoa Airways, formerly Polynesian Airlines, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Samoa. The airline was founded in 1959 as "Polynesian Airlines", providing domestic and international flights throughout the South Pacific. International ope ...

. It was shut down again in January 2005 due to Government and village concerns over safety and noise. On 1 July 2009, Polynesian Airlines reopened Fagali'i airport and resumed a service that included international flights to

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internationa ...

. The reopening of the airport was controversial and attracted criticism both for the safety and environmental issues with the airport's configuration and for the potential burden on local communities should the scheme fail. In August 2014 Polynesian Airlines opened a new VIP lounge at the airport. In December 2014 it resumed flights from Fagali'i to Maota Airport in

Savaiʻi Savaii is the largest (area 1,694 km2) and highest ( Mt Silisili at 1,858 m) island both in Samoa and in the Samoan Islands chain. The island is also the sixth largest in Polynesia, behind the three main islands of New Zealand and ...

. Airlines that have operated from the airport include: * Polynesian Airlines (now

Samoa Airways Samoa Airways, formerly Polynesian Airlines, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Samoa. The airline was founded in 1959 as "Polynesian Airlines", providing domestic and international flights throughout the South Pacific. International ope ...

) *

Samoa Air Samoa Air was a small airline from Samoa that operated scheduled flights between the domestic islands as well as to American Samoa. It also provided charter flights and medical transfer flights. The airline appears to have become dormant in 2015 ...

South Pacific Island Airways South Pacific Island Airways (SPIA) was an airline operating flights in the Pacific including American Samoa and Hawaii with service to the west coast of U.S. and Canada as well as to Alaska, New Zealand, Guam and Tahiti from 1973 to 1987. The Fe ...

Talofa Airways Talofa Airways is a Samoan airline that offers flights within the Polynesian region. It started operations in August 2016 using two Rockwell 690B Turbo Commander aircraft. Talofa Airways is the third airline based in Samoa, after Samoa Air and ...

In 2018 the Samoan Government decided that airport operations would be returned to the

Samoa Airports Authority Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

. The airport closed for safety reasons on 31 December 2019 after failing to meet international standards. All flights were transferred to

Faleolo International Airport Faleolo International Airport is an airport located west of Apia, the capital of Samoa. Until 1984, Faleolo could not accommodate jets larger than a Boeing 737. Services to the United States, Australia, or New Zealand, could only land at Pago ...

. It was handed over to the Ministry of Police for use as a vehicle inspection site and testing range. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, it was used as a COVID-19 testing site for law enforcement officers. In August 2022 Public Enterprises Minister Leatinuu Wayne So’oialo confirmed plans to reopen the airport for flights to

. In September 2022 the government confirmed plans to reopen Fagali'i , but also assigned a Minister to find an alternative site for an eventual replacement.

References

{{authority control Airports in Samoa