Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Rising airfare within the Cooks--and maybe elsewhere soon??? Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
raro 04:07 UTC 20 Oct 2007 | I was amazed to read the follwoing story about the domestic flights from Rarotonga to Manihiki, in the Cook Islands. If you think your domestic carriers with their 5 or 10% fare increases due to fuel costs are a lot, consider the following: "Air Raro hikes Manihiki airfare by 69%" 17 October: A one way Air Rarotonga ticket to Manihiki has today increased to [NZ] $1150, compared to the old fare of [NZ]$682, an increase by 69 percent. In a statement Air Rarotonga's managing director Ewan Smith said that a major review of services to the northern group islands of Manihiki and Penrhyn resulted in significant increases to fares. Smith said that they recognise that new one way fare levels to Manihiki at $1150 may well affect demand on flights so they will monitor forward bookings to adjust schedules as necessary. New fares for Manihiki are $1150 (old $682) for adult, $863 (old $512) for a child and $115 (old $69) for an infant." OK, not many tourists make it to Manihiki anyway, even at the old price. But at about US$1725 for a DOMESTIC round trip ticket, this will dry up almost all tourism to Manihiki. One could get an RTW ticket for that price!!! But this may only be the tip of the iceberg. If Air Raro has to make such huge increases in this once-a-week flight, than what is in store for the almost-daily flights to Aitutaki, and several flights a week to the other outer islands such as Atiu? And further afield, can Air Raro and Air Tahiti sustain the current service between Rarotonga and Tahiti??? The Air New Zealand connection between Rarotonga and Fiji ends in a couple of weeks. With such high fuel costs in the area (and elsewhere as well, of course), it does not look good for one of the smaller airlines to try and pick up this route. In the larger picture, if Air Raro---which is a very well-managed airline---has had to substantially increase domestic fares, can the domestic airlines of other countries be far behind? In particular one thinks of Tonga, where flights to Ha'apai and Vavau have always had troubles, and in Fiji flights to some of the outer islands could also go up. Anyway, food for thought on the future of domestic aviation in the South Pacific. |
silvanocat 05:52 UTC 20 Oct 2007 | I've always wondered why the flights to Manihiki were so prohibitive. I googled, it's 665 miles from Rarotonga. Gambier is over a 1000 miles from Tahiti but the round-trip fare is about $770 US in more expensive French Polynesia. (And that's the "tourist price" purchasing it from the non-FP Air Tahiti Web site.) Granted there is more reason to have flights to Gambier as it is the administrative center of the Australs and Air Tahiti is a bigger airline with more flights to many more islands. But flights to Puka Puka, Vahitahi, Pukarua, Nukautavake, etc. follow that pricing and they are all tiny atolls with no tourism or industry or anything. If a local from Manihiki wanted to fly roundtrip to Raro would they pay that price? I find it interesting that one can get specials from LAX to Japan for under $800 US including tax and all fees/surcharges. However Continental charges outrages fares within Micronesia. It would seem that they do so just because they can. Is that what Air Raro is doing? | 1
venezio 06:35 UTC 20 Oct 2007 | What I enjoyed most on my trips to the South Pacifi was to stay on remote islands like Manihiki. But if I have to pay the same amount or more for a domestic flight than for a flight from Europe to the SP, 1)I cannot afford it any more and 2) even if I could, I'm not willed to pay those exuberant fares. In case that other airlines in that region follow the policy of Air Rarotonga, I regrettably have to say farewell to that part of the world. | 2
southpacificjunky 07:10 UTC 20 Oct 2007 | God Lord, I was just about to book our trip to Manihiki for May next year and found this post about rising fares... I am now having second thoughts.. surely this is only going to damage to the small local tourist industry on the island? My airfare from Australia to Rarotonga is only 750 AUD? I don't understand??? | 3
islandboi321 07:10 UTC 20 Oct 2007 | Venezio: Could you please post the link to your pictures from Manihiki again please? (If you still have a link, that is!) I often think that these expensive (and obviously getting more so all the time) airfares keep North Americans from coming to the South Seas in big numbers. I never could figure out the number of Europeans, though... It's twice as far away. Sad in some ways, but grand in another... The fact the Samoa will probably never become a Thailand. | 4
raro 07:19 UTC 20 Oct 2007 | Silvano---hard to say if it's mostly a rip-off, or just a little rip-off, so to speak. But the problem starts with the lack of consistent traffic to and from Manihiki, and then the plane itself. They have to take out some seats to fill in with more fuel (or at least less weight), so they can't fit that many on the plane, maybe 10 to 12 instead of the normal 19 on that plane. The main industry on Manihiki is black pearls, so business people there do travel back and forth by plane. Maybe Air Raro feels those people can afford it even at the higher price. Yes, locals pay the same fare. A few yrs ago it used to be about NZ$1150 RT from RAR to Manihiki. Now it's the same price for ONE-WAY! They will always get that fare from govt people who have to fly there (the govt pays off course, not the civil servant). And before each election there are politicians who will pay that from each party to campaign up there. And around Christmas/New Years there will always be some CI'ers living in NZ that will splurge to visit relatives there. So, maybe they figure they'll just start at that price, and see how it does. Maybe they'll lower the price if they are not getting enough people. But if it really is a problem due to high aviation fuel prices, then if they don't get enough people they will just cancel the service. My gut feeling is that it is not a total ripoff. The owners are business people, but they actually do care about the country's well-being, I know them a bit. But I guess we'll see how things go. How large are the planes that serve the Gambiers, e.g. how many seats? Maybe that is one difference. Also, the Cooks are kind of at the end of the chain of fuel supply, from Australia or Singapore, then to Fiji, then to the Cooks, etc. Maybe Fr. Polynesia can get av fuel cheaper than the Cooks?? | 5
silvanocat 09:17 UTC 20 Oct 2007 | Air Tahiti uses 10 planes, one is a 19 seat twin otter, 4 are 48 seats ATR 42s and 5 are 66 seat ATR 72s. Their fares for the closer islands are considerably more than Air Raro, with the RT to Bora Bora during high season being about $150 US (tourist fare) more than a roundtrip from Rarotonga to Aitutaki. islandboi - I met a lot of Canadians in the Cooks. Lots of Americans in French Polynesia, though less so now with our declining currency. And there is always Hawaii. With our generally short vacations these kinds of destinations really are suited for us. If you are only gone for two weeks you can afford to spend much more on everything. But the accomodations on Manihiki aren't really suited for most Americans who prefer a resort experience. Having said that, I would be back in the Cooks in a heartbeat if I could get out to the northern atolls but I thought about it quite a bit and decided that even the old price was just too much. It just didn't feel right to pay that. I would think that Samoa is going to pick up quite a bit of the RTW crowd. If the choices are a single destination of Fiji or the Cooks (no one is going to chose FP with the expensive reputation unless they are heading to Easter Island and Chile) or a two island stop of Samoa and Tonga with the reputation of being the cheapest places then that's where the gappers will go. I guess it's good that I'm going now. | 6
venezio 10:10 UTC 20 Oct 2007 | Islandboy, I never posted a link to pictures from Manihiki - might it be that you mean someone else? #5: When I was in Manihiki, I was told that, if necessary, Air Rarotonga sells less tickets than seats available, in the case that there is a plenty of cargo to be loaded. Since cargo is charged by weight (hopefully passengers will never be, otherwise many islanders must pay even more than the already incredibly high fares), it yields higher profit than a passenger ticket, particularly with pearls, which are not voluminous, but weighty - not one, but thousands of them. I've seen the boxes they use to transport the pearls. Therefore you can load heaps of pearl into the cargo compartement, but you cannot load a plane full with passengers plus cargo, since the maximum takeoff weight should not be exceeded, otherwise the trip would end in the lagoon immediately after takeoff. You can imagine now what the priority is - pearls or people. I think the ripoff is not directed against travellers (there aren't almost any), but the airline simply wants to utilise the fact that "technicians" (as the Manihikians call them - mainly Japanese who know the technique of inserting a nucleus into the oyster to generate a pearl) travel to the island as well as officials and returning expats. I had three Japanese on my flight to Manihiki, obviousely not holiday-makers. The planes from Pape'ete to Mangareva in the Gambiers are ATRs with a capacity of up to 72 seats (I don't know the exact cabin layout of Air Tahiti). Coincidentially, they produce black pearls there as well, and I hope that Air Tahiti doesn't read this post to be inspired to rethink their tariffs. Compared to Air Rarotonga, I just paid a fare of 45% of the long range rate for the domestic flghts. A veritable bargain. But maybe I'm a narrow-minded European - the distance I covered within one single country in the South Pacific is like crossing my continent from one end to the other one. | 7
islandboi321 11:21 UTC 20 Oct 2007 | Sorry Venezio... I guess I was thinking of someone else. I remember they were interesting pictures and actually the only ones I have ever seen of Manahiki. Hah! Now that I have your attention, you should download pix of Manihiki to share! ;) 'cat: You're right for the most part, but I still do have to wonder about all those Germans and Scandinavians I had met in Samoa/Tonga who had made it their single destination. What an expense that must have been! One thing I have noticed about Samoa as I was researching for my trip there in March, is how DRAMATICALLY prices have risen for accommodation at many, many places over last year. | 8
crossie 01:43 UTC 21 Oct 2007 | Ouch! That does not bode well for charters to Niue which is actually closer to Rarotonga than Manahiki. Nor does it look good for our dreams of an east-west scheduled service. Bring back the boats, preferably twin hulled with sails. | 9
crossie 04:34 UTC 21 Oct 2007 | Air Raro owner Ewan Smith says I can quote him with the following clarification: "Well some of them have it right. The facts We lost over half a million NZD on northern group services in the past twelve months. Over the years we are one of the few that have invested in the northern group hopeful of some form of economic development with fishing and pearls. It has not happened. Fishing is non-existent and the pearl industry struggles. There are no breaks on tax or anything else. Its 1300 kms from Rarotonga to Manihiki. The population is 300. At the end of that flight you have a rough coral runway capable of handling aircraft of the size of the Bandeirante. We have owned the Saab 340 for seven years now and in that time there has been no progress toward upgrading the runways. Aircraft such as an ATR72 require a sealed runway. The fuel load required to travel that distance plus an alternate leaves payload for 8 passengers with a 10 kilo baggage allowance The round trip fuel cost from Rarotonga to Manihiki and back in a Bandeirante is now $5000. (Our fule in Manihiki is costing $3.75 per litre to land.) A fully costed round trip to the northern group (8 hours flying) is around $16000. You do the maths. Loads are generally directional coinciding with the pearl seeding/harvest cycle so you get 8 passengers one way and maybe 2 the other. There are hundreds of populated islands in the South Pacific with no air service at all. European tourists cannot go there either unless they are very keen. So there is no sinister plot to rip off Japanese pearl technicians and the like. The cold hard facts are that there is no business case for a 'normal' air service. Cheers/Ewan " | 10
raro 04:46 UTC 21 Oct 2007 | Silvano---the round trip from Rarotonga to Aitutaki is about NZ$304. With exchange rate at about NZ$1 = US. 74, that's about US$224, so it's a bit higher than the RT from PPT to BOB. They used to both be about US$150, but that's when the exchange rate had dipped quite a bit a few yrs ago. In general it's been about .67 or higher for most of the last yr. so that flight has been US$200 or so RT. Most of Air Tahiti's planes are a lot bigger than Air Raro's. Air Raro does use a 40-seater to Aitutaki, but there isn't the demand to need that plane for Manihiki. Then again, it's the chicken and egg problem. With such higher prices, tourists won't go there. Islandboi---I think you may have seen photos by Rich McIntyre somewhere. He stayed at my place (Shangri-La) on a couple of occasions, and took a trip to Manihiki for about ten days during one of those trips. It was probably in 2004 or 2005. I encouraged him to post a report on the TT, so he may have put a link to his photo album. The album is out there somewhere. They were great photos. | 11
raro 04:55 UTC 21 Oct 2007 | Crossie, good to see Ewan's comments. To those that have not met him, he is a straight and honest guy, so I personally would trust his explanation for the situation there. Which then means, to me, that domestic air fares all over the S.P. could rise a bit in the near future. Maybe someone could start a sail-ferry, slowly heading in a large circle around the islands. Hop on and off, etc. | 12
silvanocat 05:40 UTC 21 Oct 2007 | It's 290 Euros so US $415 (the dollar must have fallen more overnight), high season round trip from PPT to BOB (tourist fare). I think that is how they help keep the fares to the outer islands relatively low. | 13
silvanocat 05:44 UTC 21 Oct 2007 | That is charge a high fare for tourists to Bora-Bora (expecially) and the other touristed islands to support relatively inexpensive flights to the islands that are further out from Tahiti. | 14
crossie 07:44 UTC 21 Oct 2007 | Niue, 600 miles from Rarotonga, population 1200 with a substancial infrastructure and a weekly Air NZ link sounds more viable than flying to Manihiki for Air Raro. But it looks like that dream won't happen. Indeed I think fossil fuel depletion is putting the writing on the wall. Airfares will never be the same and will continually go up exponentially. Get out those paddles. | 15
papamike 09:57 UTC 21 Oct 2007 | I have met Ewan Smith and agree with Raro's comments about him. The economics are such that air travel to the Northern Group just does not pencil out. Maybe with more demand some form of regularly scheduled ferry service can be implemented to serve these wonderful locations. I am working on an update to my Caribbean Guidebook and there is a lot of talk about ferry service returning to that region. The islands are closer and the traffic is greater, but I think in the long run there is a better chance of ferry service than by air. I know that a lot of people would travel to the Northern Group if they could count on a boat service that was reliable and return to pick them up in two or three weeks. I have received numerous E-mails worldwide from people picking my brain about my trip on the Mana Nui. There are a lot of people who would love to, say spend three weeks over on Rakahanga on a "Robinson Crusoe vacation." They just need to know at the end they will be picked up. Anybody out there interested in running a boat service in the South Pacific? Papa Mike Papa Mike's Cook Islands Handbook | 16
crossie 03:06 UTC 22 Oct 2007 | Not sure if they would be into passenger services but I will talk to the Reef people. They have forked out in excess of 10million on fishing boats for Niue not to mention their regular fleet so maybe they will be interested in diversifying further. I guess it would depend on the maths. A Tonga, Niue, Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Northern group, Samoas circuit would be great. | 17