Fiji Airways has no intention of changing its travel agent commission structure – in fact, it aims to make its ties to the trade even stronger, says Akuila Batiweti, Fiji Airways’ Executive Manager of Global Sales, Marketing and Digital.
In an interview with Karryon at the Fiji Tourism Expo (FTE), Batiweti said the trade had been “wonderful partners” for Fiji Airways.
“And you know we wouldn’t be here today without the wholesalers and travel agents”, that came back to Fiji quickly after the country announced its reopening.
“We’re not removing commissions like other carriers. We’ve seen our competitors take out commissions, move to NDC, take some of these things out. And our CEO André [Viljoen] said for us as a business, that’s our competitive advantage with our partners,” Batiweti told Karryon.
“The trade has looked after us for many years. At a time when everyone is saying go direct, go direct. No, we will remain with our partners because you can’t beat the personal touch that a lot of the trade partners still have with their customers.”
Stronger together
In fact, Batiweti said Fiji Airways would strengthen its ties even more with travel advisors and the trade moving forward.
“We’re making some things better with our trade partners, in negotiations with back-ends and other things around ancillary products,” he explained.
“And so we’re actually making it better than it was pre-COVID. And now, with the new branded fares, there are opportunities for other things that we’re doing with our partners.”
FJ’s decision to up capacity and improve schedules (with more daytime flights) out of Melbourne is an example of how it has really listened to the trade too.
“The trade said they needed these flights … they needed more daytime flights…” he said. And FJ gave it to them.
Flying your way
On Fiji Airways’ new Fly Your Way branded fares, Batiweti said the initiative had been doing well because it gave passengers “more flexibility, more options”.
“We have a lot of weekenders that just come and they don’t carry a bag. While we’re primarily a family market, we still have those that just want to come in and don’t want to pay for someone else’s bag. And so that was the whole reason why we did this … and just give people that option,” he stated.
“But one thing that we did differently from every other airline is we kept the carry-on bag. So everyone still gets a carry-on. It doesn’t matter which bundle you choose. Everyone gets a meal. Everyone gets beverages, and everyone gets entertainment. That’s something we did not change. So, still full service essentially.”
Sunny skies ahead
Overall, the future (and indeed present) looks bright for Fiji Airways.
Speaking to media at FTE, Batiweti said that looking at loads and forward bookings, the airline was on target to carry 1 million passengers this year.
He said in the first quarter of 2023, FJ flew at about 113 per cent (compared to 2019 levels), and that was without Hong Kong and Japan.
In Q2, it expects to fly around 134 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, and by Q4 it predicts it will fly 150 per cent more in terms of overall capacity.
Back at 100%
Speaking at FTE, Tourism Fiji CEO Brent Hill said, “Fiji Airways hit a major, significant milestone: they reopened to 100 per cent of the markets that they were in prior to COVID, with the reopening of Christmas Island – and in addition, we now have new routes in Vancouver and shortly in Canberra and new planes coming as well”.
“So it’s incredibly exciting. And for us at Tourism Fiji, we’re just so grateful to have partners and a national airline, and we know that there are many tourism bodies around the world that don’t have that kind of partnership,” Hill remarked.
Meanwhile, Fiji Airways has signed a deal to become the exclusive official airline of the world’s largest obstacle race, Spartan. It hopes this will open an even wider audience for them. So watch this space.
Karryon was in Fiji for FTE 2023.
Read about FJ’s plans to introduce “one to two” more ports in Australia – and to up capacity on current Aussie services.
Also, read about FTE 2023 and the bright outlook for Tourism Fiji.
For more information on Fiji Airways, visit its website.