Boeing 737-800 aircraft

The Samoa Observer reports Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa as being happy with the offer from Vanuatu.

However, she said they need to resolve the issue between the government and the lessor.

The FAST government decided soon after taking office that the lease agreement on the aircraft was unsustainable.

A special Cabinet committee had recommended the immediate stopping of the lease with an airline company in Ireland.

Photo file  supplied 

The Minister responsible for Samoa Airways, Leatinu'u Wayne Sooialo, assured Parliament yesterday that it was only a matter of time before the aircraft arrives in Apia.

Leatinu'u was responding to former Minister Lautafi Selafi Purcell's concern over the delay in bringing over the airline.

Lautafi was the minister responsible for negotiating with the Netherland Government the Boeing 737-800 lease to Samoa, and according to him, everything was ready and it was just a matter of bring the airline home after it went through the final checks in Brisbane, Australia.

Several flights have been cancelled this week and passengers re-routed after the lease expired on a Boeing 737-800 aircraft at the end of March.

The airline said efforts to secure a suitable replacement aircraft started as a result of the global grounding of MAX 8 aircraft in the first half of March, triggered by the air crash in Ethiopia.

It said there is a huge shortage of narrow-body aircraft as airlines scramble to consolidate their schedules using existing fleets and short-term leases.