Authorities in American Samoa say an air traffic control tower for Pago Pago International Airport is unlikely until 2017, when funding can be discussed with the Federal Aviation Administration.
There have been calls for an air control tower at the airport after a single-engine aircraft crashed into the sea after take off, killing two people in July.
The Port Director, Taimalelagi Claire Poumele has denied suggestions the absence of a traffic control tower contributed to July's plane crash.
Taimalelagi says she asked FAA officials in Honolulu whether a control tower would have advised the plane not to take off when it did.
She was told control towers could only advise on weather and cannot tell a pilot not to take off, so would not have made a difference.