Nadi

Air NZ's first commercial flight to Fiji amid the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in Nadi last week.

Chris Chand, of Fiji Airports, said the flight from Auckland carried repatriated Fijians and tourists.

With New Zealand's borders closed to Fiji, customer loads have been understandably quite low, the airline said in a statement.

"We have been operating one return Nadi flight per week through the pandemic which has been mostly cargo into Nadi," he said.

One other person from the Chinese-owned Fiji-flagged fishing vessel Tiro Two made it to a lifeboat and two others were found on another vessel.

They have all been interviewed by the police.

The Fiji Times newspaper reports that the chances of survival for the men who leapt into the water without any lifesaving equipment last Monday have been greatly reduced.

But Fiji Navy commander Captain Humphrey Tawake said the authorities remain optimistic.

The 53-year old woman is a first-generation contact identified through contact tracing related to the border quarantine case announced yesterday.

The woman lives in Nadi, with a travel history in Nadi and Lautoka.

All members of her household have already been entered into quarantine.

The Ministry of Health is awaiting the results of their Covid-19 tests.

To aid rapid contact tracing and reduce the likelihood of further transmission, the Government announced a lockdown of the Greater Nadi and Lautoka Area, starting from 4am this morning.

A Cabinet decision paper was leaked to the Samoa Observer proposing to close the route, serviced by Fiji Airways, down and force passengers to fly via New Zealand using Samoa Airways.

However, this week the government newspaper Savali reported Tuilaepa saying the decision was to promote proactive talks between the two airlines and revive discussions about a code-sharing agreement that had never been implemented.

The closure was reported after a confidential Cabinet Paper was leaked to the Samoa Observer.

A statement from Fiji Airways confirms the issues of "partnership" and "codeshare agreements" are being negotiated between the two airlines.

"Discussions have taken place between Samoa Airways and Fiji Airways Executives on partnership and codeshare arrangements," the statement said.

The airline said it has now referred the matter to the Fijian government for its attention.

This follows the withdrawal of all services operated and supplied by Solomon Airlines effective June 7, 2016 until further notice.

Air Niugini’s flight PX082 from Port Moresby to Honiara and Port Vila on Tuesday has been rerouted to operate from Port Moresby to Port Vila direct.

Flights between Port Moresby and Nadi, Fiji will be nonstop and not via Honiara until further notice.

Air Niugini is waiving rebooking and cancellation fees for disrupted Honiara passengers.