Light-glitch airport in big rebuild
Tonga’s international airport, where runway lights problems forced an Air New Zealand flight to divert, is undergoing a $37 million rebuild.
The Air New Zealand Airbus A320 was en-route to Fua’amotu International Airport from Auckland on Tuesday night when the crew was told the runway lighting was not operating and it diverted to Fiji.
The flight, with 117 passengers on board, refuelled and then returned to Auckland, landing early yesterday morning, a spokeswoman said.
Air New Zealand operated an additional return service recovery flight between Auckland and Tonga yesterday during daylight hours in order to accommodate passengers, she said.
“We apologise to customers for the inconvenience experienced.”
Efforts to contact Tonga Airport were unsuccessful yesterday but it is undergoing a $37m rebuild as part of a World Bank $140m programme to improve airport safety in the Pacific.
Spanish-based aeronautical, telecommunications, infrastructure, and transportation company GECI won the contract to do some of the work.
It recently said on its website that Tonga Airports had effectively certified air field lighting, vhf communications, automatic weather stations (AWOS), navigational aids and an airfield portable electrical substation.
The Spanish company said it had “fruitfully” carried out the training for Tongatapu and Vava’u airport systems.
Fua’amotu International is about 35km from the capital of Tonga, Nuku’alofa, and was initially built as a bomber base during World War II.
Earlier this year Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia suspended their services to another Pacific nation, Vanuatu, because of safety concerns about the runway surface.
Air New Zealand’s scheduled services are still suspended but the airline runs some charter operations.