Talofa Airways is a

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); ...

n 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 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 ...

and

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 ...

. As of September 2016, the airline serves three destinations in the region.

History

Toleafoa Jeffrey Hunter, the founder of Talofa Airways, first had plans to set up an airline business in the region in 1996, when he decided to remain in

rather than return to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. After opening a pharmacy in

Apia Apia () is the 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'') of Tuamasaga. ...

in 2002, Hunter began to invest towards establishing Talofa Airways, which would provide more convenient air travel between

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 Internatio ...

and other islands in

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

. He selected the Rockwell 690B Turbo Commander in a nine-seat configuration for the airline's fleet. In order to avoid the high costs of transporting the aircraft to Samoa, Hunter flew the aircraft from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

himself. On 22 August 2016, the airline held an inauguration ceremony at Apia's

Fagali'i Airport Fagali'i Airport is a disused airport located in Fagali'i, Samoa. It has operated intermittently since 1970. History In 1939 the New Zealand colonial administration decided to construct two military airfields in Samoa, one each for land- and ...

with Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi in attendance. Talofa Airways began operations on 29 August 2016, becoming the third airline based in Samoa after

and

Corporate affairs

The airline takes its name from the traditional Samoan greeting ''

Talofa Talofa is a salutation or greeting in the Samoan language of the Samoan Islands.{{cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ptk9xUamLeUC&q=ali%27i&pg=PA209, title=Linguistic anthropology, first=Alessandro, last=Duranti, publisher=John Wiley ...

'', signifying Talofa Airways' Samoan roots. It is headquartered in Taufusi, Apia. Toleafoa Jeffrey Hunter serves as the chairman and

Chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

Destinations

As of September 2016, Talofa Airways flies to the following destinations:

Fleet

As of September 2016, Talofa Airways operates the following aircraft:

Accidents and incidents

* On 12 January 2017, a Talofa Airways Rockwell 690B Turbo Commander was involved in an accident after a normal landing at Pago Pago International Airport (American Samoa). There were no reported injuries or fatalities.

References

External links

*
Video of inauguration ceremony, 22 August 2016
{{Airlines of Samoa Airlines of Samoa Airlines established in 2016 2016 establishments in Oceania