Faster route from Noumea to Europe, pan-Pacific tourism partnership unveiled, and plea over language weeks
New route will knock up to three hours off flight times to Paris.
AirCalin Airbus at Noumea aiport Photo: RNZ Walter Zweifel
New Caledonia's air carrier Aircalin is opening a new route to France via Singapore from July 1.
The airline will offer two return flights a week increasing to three return flights later in the year.
The new route through Singapore to France will take two to three hours less than the flight travelling via Japan.
After two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, Aircalin has started back its flight shedule to Australia and French Polynesia.
Starting from May 8, flights will take off to New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna.
Aircalin chief executive Didier Tappero said the company had lost about $US270 milion in three years.
"Even though flights are back to normal, 2022 will still become a difficult year because the planes will not be full."
To avoid going bankrupt, the company has borrowed $US43 million from the French Government, reduced its fleet, made hundreds of staff members redundant and reduced the salaries of its remaining employees.
Milestone in Pacific tourism post-covid
The South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) has announced a partnership between various tourism organisations representing Small Island Developing States (SIDs).
The organisation's CEO Christopher Cocker announced the partnership at the SIDs Global Business Network Forum in Palau.
Mr Cocker said it's a working group that can share best practises and information, which are important for Pacific nations considering opening their borders.
"To me it's a milestone because moving forward in terms of covid recovery, no man's an island, we need to collaborate. And I've heard this week of how vital strategic partnerships are."
Cocker said the SIDs tourism sector faces a number of unique challenges right now because of the pandemic.
Language weeks need to be longer says academic
Pacific language weeks are not long enough, said a Tongan scholar.
Sione Tu'itahi, who has helped published various works in Tongan, said language preservation requires daily use and awareness.
He said there were now very few native speakers among third and fourth generation Pasifika in New Zealand.
"It is not long enough. It is not adequate to just create the awareness for a week and then you just put it behind. I mean to maintain the language because within the language, we have our knowledge, our values, our stories ... all of that. In short, the language is the basket of our culture. If we lose it, we lose a significant part if not our total culture."
According to the 2018 New Zealand census, only 38 percent of Pasifika could speak two languages.
Niue's timeline for border reopening
The Niue Government has released its proposed timeline for reopening the border.
It suggests weekly passenger flights could start from August 8 but with restrictions on passenger numbers.
Next on the timeline is unrestricted travel.
The proposal suggests passenger flight restrictions to be slashed from October 10.
The Government said the dates might change and all pre-departure requirements such as testing remain in place.
Easter chocolate warning
People are being warned against buying kinder chocolate over Easter.
Fiji's Ministry of Health has launched a nationwide recall on the sale of certain Kinder chocolate products after reports of a recent multi-country outbreak of salmonella.
A spokesperson from the ministry said it was possibly linked to chocolates distributed internationally from a Kinder chocolate factory in Belgium.
People are advised not to consume or purchase the egg-shaped chocolates.