Samoa Airways

CEO for Samoa Airways, Tupuivao Seiuli Alvin Tuala says all hands are on deck with staff working overtime to provide customer care, co-ordinate and communicate in real time between central operations in Samoa, New Zealand and Australia.

A charter flight has been confirmed which will fast track a return to normal services.

 In light of the current 30 day proclamation of the State of Emergency for the measles outbreak in Samoa, CEO for Samoa Airways, Tupuivao Seiuli Alvin Tuala says the airline is doing their part to contribute toward the health crisis relief effort.

 “Out of this emergency, we have seen many examples of the generosity of spirit in our people who are working tirelessly to help save lives and provide support to families and health care workers in great need.” said Tupuivao Seiuli Alvin Tuala.

The airline received a directive from the Office of the Governor in American Samoa that all visitors travelling from Samoa into American Samoa must provide proof of MMR immunisation or Immunity.

The new border control restriction came into effect on 13 November  2019 when the American Samoa Territory declared a Health Emergency signed by the Governor of American Samoa, Lolo M. Moliga.

In September, the airline signed an exclusive agreement with the recently launched premium lounge.

CEO for Samoa Airways, Seiuli Alvin Tuala says this new service will enhance their customers’ travelling experience and raise the quality of their product service out of Samoa.

“We continue to look at improving our service to our customers, and this is one way to meet that. We want to ensure our customers get a proper Samoa Airways experience whenever they choose to fly us”

According to the report by the Samoa Bureau of Statistics on International Arrival Statistics, a total of 60,985 arrivals were recorded in this second quarter and most of them were visitors ( 44,170).

Most of the people 23,063 who came to Samoa chose to travel on Samoa Airways while 19,774 flew into the country via Air New Zealand.

Others flew by Fiji Airways (6960), Virgin Australia ( 5671) and 2537 for Talofa Airways.

Since Samoa Airways was re-established almost two years ago, visitor numbers have jumped to 40K with visitor consumption growing over 100K, according to Samoa Tourism Authority Marketing Manager, Leituala Joe Chan Ting, who recognises that more collaboration between airline and STA is crucial to building on this growth.

“With the growing interest in Samoa we have been running Famils. almost twice a month” Said Leituala “Destination and airline go hand in hand when implementing marketing campaigns – it is vital to continue this going forward.”

President of the Samoa Hotel Association (SHA), Tupai Saleimoa Vaai says that a major contributing factor to the spike is due to the establishment of Samoa Airways which has boosted the industry’s destination marketing campaign efforts.

“Collectively, the marketing we have been doing has been effective but the biggest factor contributing to the breakthroughs of those marketing efforts is Samoa Airways” said Tupai

“We can only do so much destination marketing as we can but if we can’t achieve affordable flights to Samoa – those efforts goes to waste.”

The overhaul of the flight menu is part of an ongoing process in reviewing the entire inflight product service out of Samoa.

It is one of many changes that Samoa Airways General Manager Commercial, Robert Rounds, has initiated to meet evolving and changing customer expectations in a tough aviation market.

“This airline is about people and we want to ensure that our valued passengers receive a positive and authentic Samoan experience on board Samoa Airways, ”Rounds said.

The losses were outlined in a performance report submitted to the Ministry of Public Enterprises, which oversees the finances of public bodies. 

 The report says “other operations” generated a profit of $1,455,954(US$546,713)

 The jet operation ran at a loss of $6,640,178 (US$2,486,606) which led to a year-to-date net loss for the airline of $4,805,440(US$1,799,536). 

 This was due to an increase in spending for the jet operation.

 Jet fuel spending for the quarter also exceeded its budget, says the report. 

The meeting, hosted by Samoan council group VICSAC on Monday night was a first in Melbourne for a representative of the Samoa national carrier.

Not only did the meeting bring the Melbourne Samoan wider community together, but it became an emotional reunion for a community that had been divided.