Fiji Airways is the exclusive airline serving the small South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu. Formerly known as the Ellice Islands, Tuvalu is located between Hawaii and Australia and consists of three reef islands and six atolls situated west of the International Date Line. It is the second least populous country in the world, following the Vatican, with a total land area of just 10 square miles and a resident population of approximately 10,600 people.
Fiji Airways’ regional subsidiary, Fiji Link, operates an ATR 72-600 aircraft between Fiji and Tuvalu, providing service three times a week from Suva. The flight duration is about two hours. Upon returning to Suva, passengers have access to numerous connecting flights to Nadi Airport, facilitating their connections to the broader Fiji Airways network.
Funafuti International Airport (FUN) is notable for its limited space, and when flights are not scheduled, the runway is utilized for various social and sports activities. A siren is sounded to alert residents when an aircraft is preparing to land, prompting them to avoid the 5,000-foot paved runway.
In the past, Tuvalu’s airport facilitated two other international airlines: Air Marshall Islands, which operated a Hawker Siddeley HS 748 until 1999, and Air Kiribati, which provided a weekly service using its Bombardier Dash 8 100 until September 2021.