Saturday, December 29, 2007

One view of Air Fiji


from w
I found these comments from a blogger who writes about the flights to Vanua Levu. I read recently that the Savusavu airfield will be closed for a while to upgrade? So, what's happening there? Have they started yet?

Air Fiji
It's hard to feel dread boarding an Air Fiji flight considering that they spend so much time decorating their aircraft with the most beautiful murals and designs. Yet on some of the inter-island jumps between Vanua Levu, Viti Levu, and Taveuni I've found myself dwelling on how these pretty planes might look strewn across verdant rainforest or cerulean ocean surface.

Truth be told, it's not the Air Fiji planes that scare me. They're mostly new and appear well maintained. What is frightening are the air strips used for takeoff and landings. They are often unimproved fields or loosely packed gravel runways that always appear too short. It's not uncommon to spot pigs or other "wildlife" scurrying near the airfield. Couple this with the often steep and erratic approaches needed for landings (particularly in Savusavu) and you begin to understand why a lot of people prefer the rusty, leaky inter-island ferry over flying.

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