Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi told local Radio 2AP that this is the reason why Virgin was only flying twice a week to Samoa.
A joint venture between Virgin and Samoa concludes in November but Virgin has belatedly applied to fly five flights per week from Australia.
Meanwhile, Tuilaepa said that Air New Zealand is looking at more flights to Samoa using their bigger 777 aircraft.
He said it showed that both Virgin and Air New Zealand were scrambling, and it could have a lot to do with Samoa's intention to re-launch its national carrier.
