page_title: Samoa Airways
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Samoa Airways / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Percival Prince 3E executive aircraft of Standard Motor Co at Croydon Airport
context_page_description: Samoa Airways, formerly Polynesian Airlines, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Samoa.
  The airline was founded in 1959 as "Polynesian Airlines", providing domestic and international flights throughout the South Pacific. International operations were temporarily halted in 2005 and taken over by new airline Polynesian Blue, before resuming international flights under the new name of "Samoa Airways" in late 2017.
  Samoa Airways is wholly owned by the government of Samoa and is based in the capital city of Apia, with its headquarters located in the Samoa National Provident Fund Building on Beach Road and its primary hub at Faleolo International Airport. The airline presently operates short-haul flights within Samoa and American Samoa, as well as long-haul flights to Australia and New Zealand.
context_section_description: The airline was established in 1959 as "Polynesian Airlines", and started operations in August that year with services between Apia and Pago Pago in American Samoa using a Percival Prince aircraft. The government of Western Samoa acquired a controlling interest in 1971. In 1982 Ansett Airlines of Australia signed a five-year management contract with the government to run the airline. This was extended for a further ten years in 1987. In February 1995 a commercial alliance with Air New Zealand was signed to develop marketing, sales and operational relationships.
  In 2005, the airline's international jet flights were taken over by Polynesian Blue, a new airline established as a joint venture between the government of Samoa and Australian low-cost carrier Virgin Blue. Both the Samoan government and Virgin Blue each held 49% ownership of the new airline with the remaining 2% held by a Samoan investment group. The government of Samoa cited rising operating costs for Polynesian Airlines, which accounted for more than half of the government's annual budget, as one of the main reasons for suspending its international operations. However, Polynesian Airlines continued to operate turboprop flights in Samoa and American Samoa. In 2011, Virgin Blue announced a rebranding of its airline group, with its Samoan subsidiary being renamed "Virgin Samoa".
  In 2017, the Samoan government announced that it was closing down Virgin Samoa, citing a lack of competitive fare pricing and disappointing performance. In its place, Polynesian Airlines would resume international flights with the new name of "Samoa Airways". The state-owned Samoa Airways partnered with Fiji Airways to assist with international flight operations, and wet-leased a Boeing 737-800 from Italian airline Neos in a deal brokered by Icelandair. International flights recommenced on 14 November 2017, with Samoa Airways flying from Apia to Auckland.
caption: Polynesian Airlines Percival Prince
exif: {}