Transport Links

IN YEARS GONE by, getting to, from and around the islands of the South Pacific has posed a challenging task. The region has historically been viewed as a perfect place to unwind and relax, but reaching that point has often been easier said than done.

In more recent times, however, this reputation has largely changed, with many of the regional islands having implemented vastly improved transportation infrastructure that is now being utilised by a rising number of regional and international airlines.

As such, light aircraft are often the primary source of travel around the Pacific. It must be noted that cabin crews, complimentary meals and in many cases tarmac runways are often bypassed, however, particularly when travelling to some of the region’s most remote areas.

Airlines that currently offer flights between and within South Pacific countries include Air Niugini, Air Tahiti, Air Vanuatu, Fiji Airways, Inter Island Airways, Manu’a Airways, Northern

Air, Polynesian Airlines, Real Tonga and Solomon Airlines, among others.

Some destinations are still only accessible by water, but to this end there is an abundant network of water taxis that readily provide transportation services, owed to a growth in tourism that has swept the region in recent decades.

Tourists boarding an aircraft from Papeete Tourists board a Fiji airtaxi while a Holland America Line cruise ship navigates the coast of Mystery Island, Vanuatu Fuifui Moimoi arrives on his home island in Tonga Small airstrip in the jungle on Ovalau Island, Fiji