Lulutai airlines has officially appointed the director of Real Tonga Tevita Palu as its interim chief executive officer.
The appointment comes after the government terminated the contract of former CEO Poasi Tei, following our report this morning.
The Minister for Public Enterprises has confirmed that Palu has been brought in because of his expertise in aircraft services.
The government expected Palu to conduct a review and provide a report on Lulutai Airlines’ current technical and mechanical status and forecast of its future performance, the Minister for Public Enterprises, Piveni Piukala said.
As Kaniva News reported yesterday, the government has been really concerned about the airline’s operation, with Piukala describing it as nosediving (“meleuku”) and “very cloudy.”
He said the government was assessing the possibility of winding up the company.
Piukala said that the previous governments had invested approximately $21 million in the airlines, an investment he questioned regarding its reliability.
In the year 2013, the government of Tu’ivakanō entered into a partnership with Real Tonga to establish a national airline dedicated to meeting domestic transportation needs.
The move forced Chathams Pacific, a New Zealand-owned company that operated Tonga’s sole domestic airline, to pull out.
After about seven years, in 2020, the Tu’i’onetoa government decided to establish a government-owned airline, leading to the creation of Lulutai.
Palu previously said Real Tonga had been put out of operation by Covid-19 and local politics.
He said at the time that with the border open, a safe and reliable air service was necessary while he attempted to persuade the then government to reinstate his airlines in the air services.
Palu said that aircraft from New Zealand were readily available for delivery to Tonga and were waiting on Tongan Government approval.
