IN BRIEF | Samoa Airways, the country’s national airline, will commence non-stop flights between Brisbane and Apia in November, linking the Queensland capital with Samoa’s largest city.
From November 13 2018, return flights will run twice weekly on Tuesdays and Sundays using a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, offering eight business class seats in a typical 2-2 layout, with a flight time of approximately five hours from Brisbane and six hours from Apia.
Out of Brisbane, OL844 is set to depart at 10:50pm, touching down in Apia at 6:45am the next day – while from Apia, OL843 takes to the skies at 6:55pm to reach Brisbane at 9:50pm the same evening, although the airline stresses that these are "tentative schedules" which may be subject to change.
While many people visit Samoa as a leisure destination, for business travellers, the country is a large exporter of agricultural goods, particularly coconuts and related products such as coconut cream and coconut oil.
Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff adds that “with Brisbane also having the largest population of Samoan born people in Queensland, the new flights help maintain strong cultural familial ties, providing choice and convenience, while saving time and money.”
Virgin Australia also offers non-stop flights between Brisbane and Apia, running once per week, on Saturdays.
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
10 Aug 2015
Total posts 122
Great news for BNE and OL
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
08 Aug 2016
Total posts 54
haha “with Brisbane also having the largest population of Samoan born people in Queensland". Obviously Brisbane would its the biggest city in the state
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 Oct 2011
Total posts 467
Yes, I think he means "largest population of Samoan born people in Australia."
12 Feb 2015
Total posts 89
Calling Apia 'Samoa's largest city' may be pushing things a bit too far. While Apia is sometimes called a city, with a population of 36,735 at the 2011 census, it is more a township with a sprawling collection of satellite villages. There's nothing else in Samoa that you could consider a city.
04 Sep 2018
Total posts 1
Kudos to Samoa Airways for starting this route.... but i would've thought they'd start a brand new route and not try and compete on a route Virgin Australia are already flying.
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