|
Vavaʻu International Airport
Vavau International Airport , also known as Lupepauu International Airport, is an airport in Vavau, Tonga. The airport is located north of the capital Neiafu. The airport has limited direct service, currently through Fiji Airways. Previously services had been provided by Chathams Pacific (until 2013) and Real Tonga (until 2020). In 2020, Lulutai Airlines began service but paused service in January 2023 due to its damaged aircraft needing repairs. Less frequent services connect Vava’u to Ha’apai, Niuafoʻou and Niuatoputapu. Flight time is 50 minutes to Tongatapu, 30 minutes to Ha’apai and a little over one hour to both Niuatoputapu and Niuafo’u. In October 2021 the Tongan Government announced plans for an NZ$172 million upgrade of the airport, including a longer runway, replacement terminal, and renewable energy plant. The expansion would allow direct flights from New Zealand and Australia, and be funded by a public-private partnership. In December 2024 acting prime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niuatoputapu
Niuatoputapu (''The Sacred Niua'') is a volcanic island in the island nation of Tonga, Pacific Ocean. Its highest point is , and its area is . Its name means ''sacred island''. Older names for the island are Traitors Island or Keppel Island. Niuatoputapu is located in the north of the Tonga island group, away from Vavau near the border with Samoa. Its closest neighbours are the small island of Tafahi, which is only to the north-northeast, and the island of Niuafo'ou. Those three islands together form the administrative division of the Niuas. Niuatoputapu Airport accepts international flights. The population was 719 in 2021. Until several centuries ago, the inhabitants spoke the Niuatoputapu language, but it was replaced by the Tongan language and went extinct. Nevertheless, the variety of Tongan spoken on Niuatoputapu contains elements of Samoan, Uvean, and Futunan. Geography Niuatoputapu's highest central area, just beside Vaipoa, is a hill only high. It is the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio New Zealand
Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classical music and jazz station, RNZ Concert, with full government funding from NZ On Air. Since 2014, the organisation's focus has been to transform from a radio broadcaster to a multimedia outlet, increasing its production of digital content in audio, video, and written forms, utilising rnz.co.nz and the RNZ app. The organisation plays a central role in New Zealand public broadcasting. The New Zealand Parliament fully funds its AM network, used in part for the broadcast of parliamentary proceedings. RNZ has a statutory role under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 to act as a "lifeline utility" in emergencies. It is also responsible for an international service, RNZ Pacific, which broadcasts to the South Pacific in both ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fuaʻamotu International Airport
Fuaamotu International Airport is an international airport in Tonga. It is on the south side of the main island, Tongatapu, 20 km from the capital of Tonga, Nukuʻalofa, Nukualofa. Although named after the nearby village of Fuaʻamotu, which is on Tungī's (the king's) estate, in reality the airfield is located on the Tu'ipelehake, Tui Pelehake's estate, closer to the village of Pelehake (which did not yet exist as a village during the early aviation days). The air field was constructed by Seabees of the 1st Construction Battalion with assistance and labor of the 147th Infantry Regiment (United States), U. S. Army 147th Infantry Regiment. It was intended as a World War II heavy bomber field, and had three coral-surfaced runways. In the late 1970s, it was expanded to permit jet aircraft to use the runways. Fuaamotu is now suitable for up to Boeing 767 size aircraft, but remains closed to larger jets (e.g. Boeing 747s). Fuaamotu International Airport is equipped with VOR/DME ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nadi International Airport
Nadi International Airport is the main international airport of Fiji as well as an important regional hub for the South Pacific islands, located by the coast on the Ba Province in the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division of the main island Viti Levu. Owned and operated by Fiji Airports Limited, it is the main hub of Fiji Airways and its domestic and regional subsidiary Fiji Link. The airport is located at Namaka, from the city of Nadi and from the city of Lautoka. In 2019, it handled 2,485,319 passengers on international and domestic flights. It handles about 97% of international visitors to Fiji, of whom 86% are tourists. Despite being Fiji's main airport, it is a considerable distance from the country's major population centre; it is located northwest of the country's capital and largest city Suva and its own airport, Nausori International Airport. History The original airstrips at Nadi were built by New Zealand from August 1939, being completed in March 1940; they were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiji Link
Fiji Link is the trade name for Fiji Airlines Limited, which is a Fijian domestic airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of the international carrier Fiji Airways. It is headquartered at the Fiji Link office in the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji (CAAFI) compound at Nadi International Airport in Nadi. It operates scheduled services to 11 destinations within the Fijian Islands as well as regionally within the Pacific Islands. The company slogan is ''Best value under the Sun.'' History Don Collingwood, a pilot and businessman, founded what became Pacific Sun in 1980, under the name Sunflower Airlines, which later changed to Sun Air. It began with a single Britten Norman BN2 Islander aircraft, flying the Nadi-Taveuni route. Other than the BN2 Islanders which remained the backbone of the fleet, the airline operated a wide range of piston and turboprop aircraft including the Beechcraft Baron, Beechcraft Queen Air, de Havilland Heron, Short 330, and de Havilland Canada DHC-6. By ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ʻAisake Eke
ʻAisake Valu Eke is a Tongan politician who has served as prime minister of Tonga since 22 January 2025. He also served in the Cabinet as Minister for Finance and National Planning from 2014 to 2017. Education Eke received a degree in economics during the 1980s at the University of the South Pacific. He undertook his doctorate at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, where he was awarded a Doctor of Business Administration for his thesis "An exploratory study on the quality of service in the public sector in Tonga" completed in 2013. Member of Parliament A former Secretary for Finance at the Ministry of Finance, he was first elected to the Legislative Assembly at the November 2010 general election as MP for Tongatapu 5. Though close to the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands, and despite having considered running as a party member, he stood as an independent, taking the seat with 24.1% of the vote and a 63-vote margin; Tongatapu 5 was thus the only consti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samiu Vaipulu
Samiu Kuita Vaipulu (born 24 December 1952) is a Tongan politician and Cabinet of Tonga, Cabinet Minister. He was the Deputy Prime Minister of Tonga, Deputy Prime Minister from 2010 to 2014 and is currently Minister for Trade and Economic Development. He most recently served as the Acting Prime Minister of Tonga from December 2024 to January 2025. Personal life Vaipulu is from the island of Ovaka. He has worked as a tour operator and as a manager for the Shipping Corporation of Polynesia. He studied at the University of the South Pacific in 1989, graduating with a Diploma in Legal Studies. He continues to be involved in the tourism industry on his home island of Vava'u. Political career Vaipulu was first elected to Parliament in 1987 Tongan general election, 1987. He lost his seat in the 1990 Tongan general election, 1990 election, but regained it in 1993 Tongan general election, 1993. he then served until 2002 Tongan general election, 2002, when he lost his seat again, but re- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tongatapu
Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukuʻalofa, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% of the national population, on . Tongatapu is Tonga's centre of government and the seat of its monarchy. Tongatapu has experienced more rapid economic development than the other islands of Tonga, and has thus attracted many internal migrants from them. Geography The island is (or including neighbouring islands) and rather flat, as it is built of coral limestone. The island is covered with thick fertile soil consisting of volcanic ash from neighbouring volcanoes. At the steep coast of the south, heights reach an average of , and maximum , gradually decreasing towards the north. North of the island are many small isolated islands and coral reefs which extend up to from Tongatapu's shores. The almost completely closed Fanga'uta and Fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niuafoʻou
Niuafoou (meaning 'many new coconuts') is the northernmost island in the kingdom of Tonga. One of the Niua Islands, it is located in the southern Pacific Ocean between Fiji and Samoa, north of Tongatapu island group and northwest of Vavaʻu. It is a volcanic rim island with an area of and a population of 431 (as of 2021). The volcano is active and has erupted regularly since 1814, with its last major eruption in 1985. The Niuafoʻou language is spoken on the island. Geography Niuafoou is a volcano located on an underwater ridge west of the line along which all the other volcanoes of Tonga are ranged. The island contains a steep-sided caldera; its rim is over high. It rises to a height of at Mokotu. The coastline is rocky and steep, with only a few beaches, all of which are stony, with black sand. The only landing place on the island is at the end of a lava flow in Futu, in the western part of the island. All the villages are in the north and east. Public places — like ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. according to Johnson's Tribune, Tonga has a population of 104,494, 70% of whom reside on the main island, Tongatapu. The country stretches approximately north-south. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest, Samoa to the northeast, New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the west, Niue (the nearest foreign territory) to the east and Kermadec (New Zealand) to the southwest. Tonga is about from New Zealand's North Island. Tonga was first inhabited roughly 2,500 years ago by the Lapita civilization, Polynesian settlers who gradually evolved a distinct and strong ethnic identity, language, and culture as the Tongan people. They quickly established a powerful footing across the South Pacific, and this period of Tong ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
