Fiji Airways flies to San Francisco

Fiji Airways has announced plans to launch direct services to San Francisco.

The new seasonal service will start on 16 June 2016, operating twice a week until January 2017. Flights will operate direct to and from Fiji’s main gateway, Nadi International Airport.

“This new service is in line with our network expansion targets and gives us further reach into North America,” explained Fiji Airways’ managing director & CEO, Andre Viljoen.

“The seasonal flying takes into account common vacation trends out of the United States. Along with the Fijian community, the Samoan and Tongan communities living in San Francisco are also big winners with this direct service. It will offer them a convenient one-stop flight back to their homeland to see family and friends.”

The flight schedule will see services depart Nadi every Thursday and Sunday at 2100, arriving in San Francisco 1230 the same day, having crossed the International Date Line. The return services will then leave San Francisco at 2300, arriving back into Nadi at 0500 two days later.

The airline said that these flight times would provide “easy connectivity within Fiji, to Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific Island nations”.

Fiji Airways will operate the 10-hour flight using its two-class Airbus A330 aircraft.

San Francisco will become Fiji Airways’ second major route launch of 2016, following the new twice weekly service to Singapore which is expected to start in April. And San Francisco will become the airline’s third US destination, following Los Angeles and Honolulu.

“Fiji is already a popular holiday destination for Americans, especially those from California. The new San Francisco direct flights will allow even more visitors – including former Fiji residents – to visit our home, its beaches, its multitude of experiences, but most importantly, the world-renowned hospitality of the Fijian people,” said Fiji’s Attorney General and Minister for Public Enterprises & Civil Aviation, Hon. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.