Gavoka Caught Out On Incorrect Information on Singapore Airlines
Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has criticised Opposition MP Viliame Gavoka for his incorrect statement on Singapore Airlines
A350 Airbuses.
Mr Gavoka had claimed that Fiji Airways bought A350 planes that were rejected by Singapore Airlines.
Mr Gavoka said it was disturbing that Fiji picked these planes because Singapore Airlines refused to take them. He claimed “there was no planning on the part of Fiji Airways”.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said if Singapore Airlines rejected A350, why would they have A350 simulators based in Singapore?
A Google search of the Singapore Airlines A350 fleet by the Fiji Sun revealed that the airline has more than 30 operating A350s in its current fleet and is ordering more. Mr Sayed-Khaiyum urged Parliament members not to run down our national carrier with unsubstantiated information.
He said as parliamentarians, they needed to give a boost to the crew and the pilots of Fiji Airways and to support the national airline instead of undermining its confidence as it was a very competitive industry.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum updated the House on the progress of the acquisition of the two new Airbus A350s.
He said it was on track as the first delivery would be in November this year and the second one in December.
“We hope to commence the commercial entry into service in December this year also.”
He added that to get these air craft up and running they needed to train staff. Currently the local pilots, aircraft engineers, training captains were undergoing training in Singapore.
He said Fiji Airways expected that by 2020, a total of 88 pilots would be qualified to fly both the A350 Airbus in the Fiji Airways fleet.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji (CAAF) as a regulatory authority is very involved in the certification programme for the entry of services of A350 into Fiji, he says.
Aircraft engineers will each receive 42 days of training in the structures and systems of the aircraft with a total of 24 licences to be issued.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said that the A350 would give us the opportunity to do much longer haul flights so in other words we could actually go beyond Los Angeles. There were also talks to even go as far as Chicago and Chennai in India. He said it was quite unfortunate for Opposition members to be undermining the confidence of Fiji Airways.
He also highlighted how the Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono was speaking highly of the progress of the national airline in their meeting yesterday.