9 Feb 2015

Tuvalu welcomes more flights

6:38 am on 9 February 2015

Tuvalu's foreign minister has welcomed the announcement of regular flights between his country, Samoa and Kiribati, but says he would like to see larger aircraft flying to Tuvalu.

Samoa Air and the Kiribati airline, Coral Sun Airways, have announced their intention to provide regular flights between the two countries and Tuvalu's main atoll, Funafuti.

Taukelina Finikaso says the announcement is very exciting, but the service will only be serviced by a very small plane.

"That is very exciting news that we heard about, but unfortunately the plane is a very small plane -- it's an eight seater. However it is very encouraging that something is starting and hopefully we will get on to bigger planes."

Fiji Airways already operates regular services between Funafuti and Nadi, but Taukelina Finikaso says he would like to see Tuvalu connected to other Pacific countries.