The history of Fiji Airways begins at the end of World War II, with pilot Harold Gatty. The Australian gained worldwide fame in the years leading up to the conflict, with his greatest achievement being the world record for circumnavigating the globe, which he achieved in just eight days in 1931.
Gatty's talents for air navigation did not go unnoticed, and over the following years the Australian worked for both Pan American World Airways and the United States Government itself in developing air routes in the South Pacific region.
The war years took a heavy toll on Gatty, who in 1946 decided to leave his homeland and settle in Fiji, buying the island of Katafaga and running a coconut plantation. However, this quiet life was not in Gatty's blood, and in 1947 he decided to create a new business: his own airline.
Called Katafaga Estates Ltd., the cargo company operated intermittently until 1951, when Gatty decided to take the next step for his fledgling airline by establishing its first scheduled enger services. To demonstrate this change, the Australian undertook a complete rebranding of the company, with the name Katafaga Estates being replaced by Fiji Airways.
Fiji Airways officially began its service on 1 September 1951, when a DH Dragon Rapide piloted by Gatty himself operated a flight between Suva and Drasa, two small communities on the main island of Fiji. In addition to the de Havilland, Fiji Airways also operated an Australia DHA-3 Drover during its early years, which also operated scheduled services between the islands of the region.
The airline's original DH Rapid, which served as Fiji Airways' workhorse during its early years of operation. Credit: Fiji Airways
The company was led by the charismatic Harold Gatty until 1957, when the aviator died due to health complications. Without this great inspirational figure, Fiji Airways went adrift, with only the purchase of the company in 1958 by Australia's Qantas saving Fiji Airways from total bankruptcy.
Under new direction
Addressing the economics of its latest investment, Qantas has splashed out the cash to transform tiny Fiji Airways into a true pan-South Pacific regional airline, creating a link between the region's island nations for the first time.
Since the ambitious project involved funds that were far below those that Qantas was willing to commit, the Australian airline came up with a creative idea: inviting other nations in the region to invest in Fiji Airways, creating a mixed-capital company with shared ownership between several Melanesian and Polynesian nations.
This strategy was initially successful. The governments of Fiji, Tonga, Western Samoa, Nauru, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands all acquired shares in Fiji Airways by the late 1960s. The scheme was so well received that private companies also bought shares in the carrier during this period, such as Air New Zealand and BOAC. To highlight its new regional identity, the airline was renamed Air Pacific in 1970.
However, the new name did little to alleviate some of the internal issues that were beginning to loom over Fiji Airways/Air Pacific. During the 70s, many of the small island nations that had stakes in the company began to pursue the dream of having their own flag carriers, thus gradually reducing the investment being made in Air Pacific.
To avoid financial problems arising from this strangulation, the Fijian government and Qantas slowly bought out the shares of the company's other investors, until they became the two main shareholders of Air Pacific.
International Expansion
In 1973, Fiji Airways/Air Pacific took another major step in its history, launching its first truly international route, with flights to Brisbane (Australia). At that time, Air Pacific also entered the jet age, operating two BAC One-Eleven Series 479 aircraft.
In the following decade, to meet the growing demand of the tourism market in the Melanesia region, the airline added the first Boeing aircraft to its fleet – a 737-200 – and, in the late 80s, the company's first widebodies were incorporated: three Boeing 747-200s and a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30.
The arrival of widebody aircraft illustrated the airline's desire to expand its flights to other parts of the Pacific region, and in 1983 Fiji Airways/Air Pacific began flights to the United States, launching flights to Honolulu, Hawaii.
The airline's fleet and route network continued to grow throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with the arrival of new Boeing 737s in addition to the first 767s. Air Pacific also operated a number of ATR 42s, which operated domestic and regional flights.
From the 80s to the early 2000s, Fiji Airways/Air Pacific operated a total of 11 747 aircraft, all of the 200 and 400 series, the majority of which were leased from Qantas.
Fiji Airways/Air Pacific's two longest-serving 747s were a pair of 747-400s that arrived in 2003 from Singapore Airlines and remained with the airline for a decade, until the airline ceased operations of the type completely in 2013.
Back to the origins
The return of the Fiji Airways brand began to be considered during 2007, when Air Pacific purchased a small local competitor called Pacific Sun, giving it the opportunity to strengthen its domestic network under the Fiji Link brand.
The incorporation process also gave Air Pacific the opportunity to carry out a major internal restructuring process, which involved rationalizing the flight network, in addition to reformulating the company's fleet.
Such projects consumed much of the energy for a more profound change at Air Pacific, which only came to fruition in 2012, when the Air Pacific brand was discontinued in favor of the return of Fiji Airways, in an attempt to better reflect the airline's origins and facilitate the company's marketing.
This change finally allowed Fiji Airways to flourish, rescuing part of the airline's legacy that had been lost since the 1970s.
After years of relative growth, Fiji Airways was hit hard by the pandemic in 2020, when half of the carrier’s employees were laid off, with a significant impact on the tourism industry. However, since the country’s borders reopened, tourism in Fiji has recovered, with Fiji Airways resuming many of its routes.
In 2025, the airline's big news was its official entry into Oneworld, one of the world's leading aviation alliances. A partner of the group since 2018, Fiji Airways becomes the 15th member of the union, which offers its customers several benefits, including the American Airlines AAdvantage loyalty program.
Air Fiji's fleet currently consists of 23 aircraft, including Airbus A330 and A350 models, as well as Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 737-800 types. The company's ATR-72 and ATR-42, and De Havilland DHC-6-400 are operated by its subsidiary Fiji Link.
