Fiji Airways Ends Adelaide Service

Fiji Airways will axe its Adelaide-Nadi route in July, just two years after it launched.

Fiji Airways has served the Adelaide-Nadi route twice per week since June 2017, using Boeing 737s with 8 Business Class and 156 Economy seats. The overnight flight to Nadi currently departs Adelaide every Monday and Friday evening, returning in the afternoon on the same days.

The last Fiji Airways flight from Adelaide to Nadi will be on 20 July 2019. Affected passengers booked to fly with Fiji Airways after this date are being offered a full refund or the option to rebook via Melbourne. Passengers will be reaccommodated on Qantas flights between Adelaide and Melbourne, then fly with Fiji Airways from Melbourne to Nadi.

The reason for the route cancellation is not clear. It is probably the case that the route was not profitable for Fiji Airways, but the Boeing 737 MAX grounding could also have played a role. Fiji Airways currently faces an aircraft shortage as its two Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft have been grounded indefinitely since March of this year. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 had been used on the Adelaide route prior to the worldwide grounding of the aircraft type.

At least one AFF member believes that poor schedules – which did not allow for easy connections to Los Angeles and San Francisco – could also have played a role in the Adelaide-Nadi route’s failure.

They relied too much on ADL-NAN point to point traffic. When in fact Fiji Airways should have timed the Adelaide -NAN flights to connect with LAX / SFO services rather than the 15 hour stopover. Arrival in NAN was around 6AM connecting at 9 or 10PM to West coast USA. A lost opportunity.

Fiji Airways continues to fly to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Qantas launched new flights from Sydney to Nadi in March 2019. Qantas owns around 46% of Fiji Airways.

Fiji Airways became an inaugural Oneworld Connect alliance member in December 2018.

Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Fiji Airways ends Adelaide service

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
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