Fiji Airways’ new boss Paul Scurrah is used to being calm in a crisis having dealt with the pandemic during his stint at Virgin Airlines and even now admits that he will have to make “some unpopular decisions” due to fuel pressures that will likely push airfares up.
That said, there is no panic, just calm reassurance for travel advisors that Fiji is a safe local destination and its award-winning national carrier, ‘the world’s happiest airline’, will continue to provide the top-quality and friendly service that it has become recognised for.
“I’m not sure I’d categorise it as business as usual, but I think the net result of what’s going on at the moment is positive for Fiji and for Fiji Airways,” he tells Travel Weekly at the Sheraton Denarau Bay following his opening speech at his first Fiji Travel Exchange.
“So, like every airline in the world, we are very susceptible to the shock and the impact of increased fuel prices, and that is something we’re absolutely feeling at the moment, and we’ve taken moves to recover that through our revenue management processes,” he says.
“But offsetting that is an increase in demand for Fiji Airways services and for holidays in Fiji, which I think is a number of reasons.
“One is our reputation as a family friendly, relatively safe and geographically isolated part of the world compared to what’s happening elsewhere, is actually playing into our favour at the moment, and (two) people are using Fiji ways to travel to and increasingly through it.”
In response to the global climate the Fiji Government, under the stewardship of Tourism and Aviation Minister Viliame ‘Bill’ Gavoka, has reinstated the Tourism Action Group (TAG), reactivated from 19 March, and led again by chairman Damend Gounder, who created Fiji’s pandemic action plan.
TAG will coordinate an industry-wide response to fuel and other challenges arising from the US-Irael-Iran war with a considered approach.
From April to October the focus is on factual information around Fiji’s fuel supply and reassuring operations and maintaining stable visitor services.
From October onwards there will be forward planning to drive demand and bookings and ongoing monitoring of the situation closely to ensure tourism continuity.
Building on the momentum
Scurrah admits that having only been in the job since November last year, he is looking at building on the momentum created by his predecessors.
“The reputation that I was privileged enough to walk in and inherit has been an enormous part of the growth and the increasing interest in flying with Fiji Airways,” he says.
The growth includes increasingly busy connections both from this side of the world, through Australia and New Zealand, and via North America which includes both Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, plus Vancouver. There is also a movement, north of the US border, “that Fiji is the new Hawaii”, he told the conference earlier in his opening address.
While Fiji Airways may not have the capacity of larger airlines servicing the Pacific region, it certainly punches above its weight, and lands around 70 per cent of the tourism traffic to the island.
It’s also coming to greater attention in Australia because of its sports sponsorship of the AFL’s Gold Coast Suns and the NRL’s Melbourne Storm, more than likely bolted-on Bali travellers. Plus, in the US, its brand is seen on the backs of the LA Galaxy Major soccer team and the NBA’s LA Clippers. Locally, it also supports the Kaiviti Silktails rugby league team, plus Fiji Rugby Union and the Fijian Drua Rugby team.
New stopovers packages
Scurrah admits learning a lot in his first few months, and there is more to come.
“Primarily we want to promote Fiji as a holiday destination, but we also know that people will use us to go through Fiji, and there’s an increasing amount of people choosing to stop over on those journeys,” he says.
And while it currently offers a stopover product, that is always being reviewed.
“In the not-too-distant future, there will be renewed focus on the way we package stopovers based on feedback we’ve had from customers and from the trade as well,” he says. “So, it’s a watch this space thing that we think will have a better offering than we currently have at the moment, although the current offerings working very well for us.”
Better regional access
In the long term, while Fiji is renown as a flop-and-drop destination, increasingly there are diverse destinations beyond the resorts and beaches that are getting all the attention. But getting people to them has been another hurdle for a maturing market often because of a lack of infrastructure and aircraft.
That said, Fiji Airways has welcomed two new ATR aircraft to its fleet over the past 18 months, strengthening its network and providing enhanced connectivity across Fiji and the South Pacific. The expansion supports Fiji Airways’ ongoing efforts to improve domestic capacity and better serve regional communities, particularly in Northern Fiji.
In addition, expressions of interest (closing March 31) have been invited for improvements to Yasawa Island Airport, and there is longterm masterplan for Nadi Airport that will hopefully enable a new range of destinations to discover over the next decade in many more of Fiji’s 14 provinces.
“We can’t do it on our own,” he says of the support required. “And, you know, early planning is very important to make sure that there’s no hurdles in the future to our ability to grow and support the country’s economic growth and but I love what I’m seeing, support for some of the lesser known but really beautiful parts of Fiji.
“We’re in a world where people want more unique experiences, something slightly off centre, something not as mainstream, we’ve got so much to offer, and increasing the amount of product that we can get with increased air services and upgraded infrastructure can only help the country, and certainly will help Fiji Airways.”
That will mean training more local people, both cabin crew and pilots, through its Fiji Airways Aviation Academy, to bring in that Fijian culture and that sense of welcoming that only comes with locals.
“It’s something we’re incredibly proud of,” he says. “It’s really put a spotlight on what a great industry it is, and it’s given people visible aspirations or visible goals, where they can see it happening in front of them and under their own eyes.
“It’s also very useful for us, having previously had this, having had to send out pilots overseas for training, there’s obviously a cost benefit for us as well. But it’s certainly really attractive for locals, and we’ve got a strong pipeline of locals coming through.”
Book now
He says the current global climate gives both him and travel advisors a chance to look at opportunity.
“I think this (Middle East situation) has brought back into focus, the closer, easier aspect for our two biggest source markets – Australia, New Zealand. You can have lunch in Sydney and dinner in Fiji. And that’s a reminder of how close and easy it is. In fact, for some people in Sydney, it’s closer than going to Perth. I think that’s something I would be encouraging travel advisors to promote.
“And given the volatility with fuel at the moment, I’d say, take what’s certain! Book now, because that price will be locked in and it could go down, it could go up.
“It’s a safe, family, friendly, beautiful country. It’s easy to get to, and they’ll be travelling on the world’s happiest airline to get here.”
