Inter Island Airways (also known as "Inter Island Air") was an

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 International ...

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

based in

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. ...

. It operated passenger and cargo flights in and between

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 Island, Manono an ...

and neighboring Pacific island countries. Its main base of operations was at Pago Pago International Airport. The airline's authorisation to operate was suspended by the US Department of Transportation in 2017.

History

Inter Island Airways, a privately owned company, was established in August 1993 as an

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

Part 135 On-Demand Air Taxi Carrier. Inter Island Airways received its air carrier certificate in September 1995 and began providing domestic passenger and cargo air service between

(

Tutuila Island Tutuila is the main island of American Samoa (and its largest), and is part of the archipelago of Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Central Pacific. It is located roughly northeast of Brisbane, Au ...

), and

Tau Tau (uppercase Τ, lowercase τ, or \boldsymbol\tau; el, ταυ ) is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless dental or alveolar plosive . In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 300. The name in English ...

(in the Manu'a Islands). The airline initiated on-demand passenger service with two 9-seater

Aero Commander Aero Commander was an aircraft manufacturer formed in 1944. In subsequent years, it became a subsidiary of Rockwell International and Gulfstream Aerospace. The company ceased aircraft production in 1986. History Aero was formed in Culver City, C ...

aircraft. The airline suspended air operations in late 1997 to focus its attention on expanding its facilities, and acquiring a modern aircraft fleet starting with a new

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...

type 19-seater Dornier 228-212 aircraft in April 1998. In November 2003, Inter Island Airways restarted flight operations when Samoa Air suspended airline operations in September of the same year due to financial difficulties. The airline provided domestic cargo and on-demand charter passenger service between Pago Pago and Tau. In December 2004, following an FAA inspection, it was granted an Air Carrier Certificate to operate in American Samoa. In January 2005, Inter Island Airways re-obtained its own Part 135 air carrier certificate and began expanding internationally, beginning on-demand passenger air charter service between Pago Pago and

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō ...

in June 2005. In July 2007, Inter Island Airways received Commuter Air Carrier Authorization. In January 2009, its license to fly to Samoa expired. Inter Island Airways expanded its fleet in February 2005 with the acquisition of a 9-seater

Britten-Norman 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 ...

BN2B-26. In December 2005, an additional 19-seater Dornier 228-212 aircraft was acquired. In November 2009 it took delivery of a 30-seater Dornier 328. In November 2013 the airline ceased service to Manu'a after an aircraft broke down. Service had not resumed as of August 2014. In May 2017 the US Department of Transportation withdrew the airline's authorisation as it had not conducted scheduled passenger operations for three years.

Destinations

Inter Island Airways operated daily passenger flights between

and: *

/ Faleolo International Airport, Independent Samoa (international)

Fleet

References

External links

* (Not updated since 2016) {{Authority control Defunct airlines of American Samoa Airlines established in 1993