The first of three repatriation flights to Samoa has been confirmed to arrive in the country on 4 December.
The flight from New Zealand was initially scheduled for 27 November.
Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said the changes were made due to the availability of the quarantine sites.
“The quarantine process needs to have a (balanced) flow in terms of quarantine sites and we also need to consider those managing our quarantine sites because it’s not an easy job,” she added.
A second repatriation flight from New Zealand is due to arrive on 18 December instead of 11 December as earlier planned.
The third flight is from Fiji on 9 December which will bring students and Samoan citizens who travelled to Fiji for work and have been stranded there since borders closed in April during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Fiji.
According to the Prime Minister, the flight from Fiji took longer to be approved because of Fiji's current Covid-19 situation.
“We were careful with Fiji because of the current situation they’re in with the spread of the Covid-19 hence why it took longer to approve but we ‘ve made sure we are safe and secure and had visited all areas we need to look at with this repatriation,” Fiame said in her media conference.
She also announced that these will be the last repatriation flights into Samoa this year with more expected to be approved for next year.
The flights from New Zealand will bring Samoan citizens who had been stranded in New Zealand and Australia.
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