Nauri Airlines’ Bid is Rejected by Asia Pacific Airlines
Two distinctively Pacific airlines are engaged in a fight, with Guam’s Asia Pacific Airlines (P9) accusing Nauru Airlines of making an unfair bid to run both passenger and cargo flights in the area and the Guam-based carrier attempting to defend its lucrative cargo operations in the Western Pacific.
An exemption and foreign air carrier license were requested by Nauru Airlines (ON) in order to facilitate charter flights between US territories, to/from Nauru, and throughout the area.
Several countries and territories in the central and western Pacific were left without the vital connectivity needed for freight deliveries when Asia Pacific Airlines was recently grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration due to a problem with pilot training. Since the FAA lifted the grounding, Asia Pacific Airlines is uncharacteristically attempting to defend a foreign airline invading its territory.
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Providing for the area for 20 years
The Guam-based carrier, a US-certified carrier, has been offering federally funded cargo services for over 20 years. The airline believes that the Nauru Airlines decision violates the Fly America Act (which stipulates that all cargo received from the US federal government must be carried by a US carrier) even though it is currently fully capable of transporting and facilitating the service in the region. The Guam-based airline thinks Nauru Airlines is attempting to gain control over markets under the Fifth Freedom that US airlines can access.
Although Nauru Airlines applied for and was granted a foreign air carrier permit for Guam, it has never used it. However, its most recent filing with the DOT raised questions about whether the action might be against USPS and Fly America Act regulations. In response, Brett Gebers, CEO of the Nauri carrier, told ch-aviation:
“Nauru Airlines responded to United Airlines’ request for assistance; we did nothing wrong. The goal of the mission was to help the Island states.
From the outside, you might assume that Nauru wanted to help out while Asia Pacific was grounded, but it seems that the Guam carrier’s ego has taken a hit as a result of the action.
filing by Asia Pacific Airlines with the DOT
In its complaint against Nauru Airlines filed with the DOT, Asia Pacific Airlines stated that the airline had “operated numerous charters to move the mail/cargo backlog in recent weeks; this required approval of each flight.” Giving this permit would replace the need for future such approvals with the broad approval that the requested permit would offer. The filing goes on to claim that the Part 375 special authorization that Nauru Airlines received back in July 2022 was used to operate the flights, further stating that the authority did not permit the transport of USPS cargo and mail. As stated in P9’s filing:
Only ‘occasional planeload charters’ by a foreign aircraft operator are allowed under the terms of Part 375 special authorizations, and only in cases where they do not amount to an engagement in international air transportation. The fact that Nauru Airlines made no attempt to obtain emergency exemption authority for such flights should be emphasised.
Nauru Airlines once had a vast network that extended across the Pacific and into Asia, but more recently, the airline has scaled back operations and now only offers connections from its hub at Nauru International Airport (INU) to Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and the Solomon Islands.
