Repatriation flights

None of the 247 passengers have tested positive for COVID-19 according to Acting Chief of the Department of Health, Dr. Reynold Ofanoa.

The passengers arrived in the country on the first week of this month.

The Chief Executive of MEIDECC Paul Mau said a meeting of the National Emergency Committee (NEMC) and the Covid-19 Oversight Committee has approved three repatriation flights next month.

A flight from New Zealand is expected to arrive on 2 June and another from Australia is expected the day after on 3 June.

The flight from Auckland is scheduled to arrive on 2 June while the flight from Brisbane, will arrive the day after.

Chief Executive of Tonga's Government Communications, Paula Ma'u, told local media the Brisbane flight is the first under Australia's Pacific Flight Programme and is not chartered by the employers of seasonal workers, as was the case for previous flights.

Meanwhile, the repatriation flight from Fiji that was planned for the first week of June was not confirmed, due to the COVID-19 situation in the country.

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A meeting between the National Emergency Management Committee and the COVID-19 Committee confirmed that there is a repatriation flight from Auckland next week.

The second flight is from American Samoa.

Chief Executive Officer of MEIDECC Paula Ma’u said two repatriation flights scheduled to arrive from Fiji and Brisbane next month have been postponed until further notice.

According to Mau, the postponement is because Fiji has closed its border due to new cases of COVID–19 and the variant is same as the one found in India.

Authorities expect 255 passengers to arrive from Auckland and Brisbane.

The Latter Day Saints Church has chartered a Lulutai Airlines flight to Fiji on 1 April to bring church members and some of the Tongans stranded there.

MEIDECC CEO Paula Mau said 102 passengers will come on the flight from NZ.

Ninety of those passengers were supposed to have returned on an earlier flight on 3 March but did not due to the recent lockdown in NZ.

Twenty-five passengers will arrive from Fiji and 128 from Australia.

According to MEIDECC Chief Executive Officer, Paula Ma’u, 247 passengers are expected to arrive on flights from Fiji, New Zealand and Australia.

Eighty people are listed to fly in from Nadi, 101 passengers from Auckland and 66 from Brisbane.

A total of 1,731 people have been repatriated to Tonga since July 2020.

Up until Wed this week, total number that have registered on the Government’s repatriate website to return to Tonga stood at 2, 795.

More than 100 seasonal workers left Tonga on a chartered flight for Australia yesterday (Thursday).

The repatriation flights are from Fiji, New Zealand and Australia.

MEIDECC Chief Executive Officer, Paula Ma’u said the repatriates will be quarantined at Tanoa International Hotel and Makeke Camp in Vaini.

Passengers on the flight from Fiji include Tongan nationals who were in India, Friendly Island Shipping Agency crew members, Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and students who studied abroad.

All the passengers have completed quarantine requirements in Fiji and are waiting return to Tonga.

The first repatriation flight for 2021 will arrive in Tonga from Apia, Samoa at around 12:30pm (local time) with 29 passengers.

The travelers are Tongan citizens, who were stranded in Samoa due to the closure of borders during the Covid-19 global pandemic.

The Lulutai Airlines aircraft will repatriate 21 Samoans who will arrive on another flight from New Zealand on the same day.  

The flight from Auckland will arrive around 1:45pm (local time) with 219 passengers onboard.

A flight with about 280 passengers from Auckland, New Zealand is expected to arrive on 14 January.

That flight is expected to include 21 people from Samoa who will be repatriated separately on the same day on a Lulutai Airlines flight.

According to a government statement, a charter flight will arrive from Sydney Australia on 22 January  to fly out 152 seasonal workers back to Australia.

The flight from New Zealand is scheduled for 19 November and the one from Australia is due to arrive on 24 November.

According to a travel advisory only Tongan citizens and permanent residents can enter Tonga at this time.

Most international flights have been cancelled, and options to leave are extremely limited.

A state of emergency is in force and activities are restricted to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Meanwhile 251 repatriated passengers that arrived from Australia and New Zealand last week have tested negative for Covid-19.

A chartered flight will bring home more than 80 nationals from Brisbane, Australia on Thursday.

The chartered flight is paid for by RSE employers in Australia to bring back RSE employees and stranded passengers in Brisbane.

Another commercial flight from Auckland New Zealand is also scheduled to arrive on Friday with more than 120 stranded nationals and RSE employees.

According to the CEO for Health Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola the number of passengers depends on the availability of rooms in the quarantine facilities.