Peau Vavaʻu Ltd (or Air Waves of Vavaʻu) was an airline based at the Pacific Royale Hotel in Nukualofa, Tongatapu, Tonga. It operated domestic services. Its main base was Fuaamotu International Airport, Tongatapu, with hubs at Lifuka Island Airport and Vavau International Airport. Fua'amoto International Airport Entrance

Fua'amoto International Airport Entrance

History

Peau Vavaʻu was formed in May 2004 following the wake of the collapse of Royal Tongan Airlines. The airline was 50% owned by Crown Prince Tupouto'a.Peau Vava'u History (website)
It began operations on 9 June 2004, using a

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

leased from New Zealand company Pion Air. In August 2004 the company was awarded a monopoly on domestic air transport under a new "one airline" policy, forcing the competing

Fly Niu Airlines Fly Niu Airlines was an airline based in Tonga. It began and ceased operations in 2004. History The airline was established 2004 as one of a number of services following the collapse of Royal Tongan Airlines. It began operations on 16 June 2004 ...

to cease operations. In August 2004 it announced the addition of a

Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial air ...

to its fleet. In November 2004 it added a chartered De Havilland Canada Dash 8. that same month a test flight to ʻEua Airport overshot the runway, resulting in a flat tyre. A second DC-3 arrived by Christmas 2004, when Peau Vavau purchased both DC-3s from Pion Air. In March 2005 Peau Vavau arranged to sublease an Air Chathams Convair aircraft from Reef Shipping, which had set up an airline in Niue. In February 2005 the airline was criticised for the high fares it proposed charging for flights to Niuatoputapu. In October 2005 the Tongan government threatened to withdraw the airline's monopoly after it had failed to service the Niua Islands. The monopoly was finally withdrawn and the "one airline" policy overturned in May 2006. Flights were temporarily suspended in November 2006 when their corporate headquarters were destroyed during the

2006 Nukuʻalofa riots The 2006 Nukualofa riots, also known as the 2006 Tongan riots, started on 16 November, in the Tongan capital of Nukualofa. The Legislative Assembly of Tonga was due to adjourn for the year and despite promises of action, had done little to ad ...

. Flights were planned to resume in May 2007. However, the airline never flew again, and its license was eventually surrendered in January 2008.

Destinations

Peau Vavaʻu operated scheduled flights to Tongatapu,

Haʻapai Haʻapai is a group of islands, islets, reefs, and shoals in the central part of Tonga. It has a combined land area of . The Tongatapu island group lies to its south, and the Vavaʻu group lies to its north. Seventeen of the Haʻapai islands are ...

, and

Vavaʻu Vavau is an island group, consisting of one large island ( ʻUtu Vavaʻu) and 40 smaller ones, in Tonga. It is part of Vavaʻu District, which includes several other individual islands. According to tradition, the Maui god created both Tongatap ...

Fleet

The Peau Vavau fleet included the following aircraft: * BAe Jetstream 41 * Beechcraft Queen Air *

among the last DC-3 in regular scheduled service worldwide

Code data

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

Code: 3O *

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

Code: PVU *

Callsign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

: PEAU

External links

Peau Vava'u
(Archive)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peau Vava'u Defunct airlines of Tonga Airlines established in 2004 Airlines disestablished in 2008