Eco Airlines Commences Operations With Flights From Brisbane To The Central Pacific

ECO Airlines will begin air services from Brisbane to the Central Pacific in February 2005, providing new jet passenger and cargo capacity to the region. Initially this service will be provided on a weekly-unscheduled charter basis.

ECO Airlines will be operating two routes. Brisbane to Pohnpei with a stopover in Honiara allowing passengers to enter the gateway to the Federal States of Micronesia. It is planned for this service to be extended to Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands.

The second service for ECO Airlines will take passengers from Brisbane to Tarawa, the main atoll of Kiribati and onto Majuro in the Marshall Islands and return*.

ECO Airlines offers convenient daylight departure times using the same plane and same service to the Pacific. The aircraft is configured to offer a combination of 60 passenger seats and ten tonnes of cargo. “Commercially, ECO Airlines will be providing a service transporting fresh Australian food products and high value materials into all destinations and returning with fresh seafood for our market in Australia and continuing onto Japan” says ECO Airlines General Manager, Clive Abbott.

ECO Airlines is also committed to providing a premium economy class product for the developing business, government and community based service to the region.

Another important focus of the Airline is to build the leisure travel market catering specifically for the dive, surfing and eco tourism sectors. Pohnpei is a growing market for surfers and is the gateway to some of the most spectacular dive sites in the Pacific.

During the next twelve months ECO Airlines plans to extend its network to include other destinations in Oceania which will offer opportunities to expand trade links and develop tourism.