Stamps Fiji

Air Pacific, Fiji International Airline, was founded in September 1951 by Australian aviator Harold Gatty who, in 1931, flew a record breaking round-the-world flight with the noted Wiley Post in a Lockhead Vega Monoplane in a little over 8 days.

Initially registered as Katafaga Estates, the airline traded under Fiji Airways, inauguration scheduled air services within the Fiji Islands, between Suva and Nadi as well as to Labasa on the Island of Vanua Levu. Services soon commenced to the other domestric points of Savusavu and Taveuni Island. In 1958, the airline was sold to Qantas Airways and, with a growing fleet of De-Havilland Heron aircraft, soon extended services to other Pacific Island destinations including Tonga (1959), Vanuatu and Solomon Islands (1960), Western Samoa (1961) and Tuvalu and Kiribati (1964). In 1967, having acquired larger prop airlines, the Hawker Sadly 748's the airline's operations soon expanded to cover Papua New Guinea, Nauru and Majuro in the Marshall Islands, with charter services to the Cook Islands.

The name Fiji Airways was changed to Air Pacific in July 1972 to reflect its growing role as a Pacific carrier. During this period the Fiji Government acquired Qantas shares and the first of the airline's fleet of turbo jet aircraft-the BAC1 - 11 entered operations, further extending the network to Pagopago and Tahiti. With the BAC1-11, the company expanded to Australia and New Zealand, serving Brisbane in 1973 and Auckland 1974.

During the 1980's the airline developed further, having acquired larger aircraft like the Boeing 737-200 and for a period, operated DC-10 services to Hawaii. In 1985 with the lease of a Boeing 747-200, the airline began serving the main tourism routes from Australia and New Zealand, and the acquisition of a Boeing 767-200 in 1990 saw services increase further.

In October 1988, once weekly service commenced to Japan. In October 1992, the airline relocated it's operations to it's newly built $18 million complex at Nadi Airport. By July 1994, flights commenced to mainland USA and in the same year, the beoing 767-300 arrived from Seattle to increase the Japan flights to twice weekly.

In 1995, a Boeing 737-300 joined the fleet under joint lease to Air Pacific and Royal Tongan, and carried both airlines livery, one on each side.

The fleet now consists of Beoing 747-200, a boeing 767-300ER, a New Generation 737-700 (took delivery in 1997), and two beoing 737-800 series which arrived in 1999. Airpacific now operates twice a weekly services to Japan, daily flights to Australia (Sydney, Melbourne & Brisban) and daily services to New Zealand (Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch). There are also four weekly flights to Los Angeles and twice weekly flights to Hawaii and Vancover. Today Air Pacific plays a major role in Fiji's Tourism industry, bringing in more than half the total visitors to Fiji.

Title	Years of carrying Fiji to the world
Values	89c, 96c, $1.00, $2.00
Designer	Mr. George Bennett
Text	Air Pacific
Printer	Cartor Security Printers
Process	Lithography
Stamp Size	30.56mm x 38mm
Sheet Format	Se-tenant strips of 4
Perforation Gauge	14 per 2cm
Paper	PVA Gum 102gsm

YEARS OF CARRYING FIJI TO THE WORLD STAMP ISSUE
Home, The Collection, Go to Order Page, Mailing List \| Pigeons of Fiji \| First Day Cover \| Technical Details \|
Air Pacific, Fiji International Airline, was founded in September 1951 by Australian aviator Harold Gatty who, in 1931, flew a record breaking round-the-world flight with the noted Wiley Post in a Lockhead Vega Monoplane in a little over 8 days. Initially registered as Katafaga Estates, the airline traded under Fiji Airways, inauguration scheduled air services within the Fiji Islands, between Suva and Nadi as well as to Labasa on the Island of Vanua Levu. Services soon commenced to the other domestric points of Savusavu and Taveuni Island. In 1958, the airline was sold to Qantas Airways and, with a growing fleet of De-Havilland Heron aircraft, soon extended services to other Pacific Island destinations including Tonga (1959), Vanuatu and Solomon Islands (1960), Western Samoa (1961) and Tuvalu and Kiribati (1964). In 1967, having acquired larger prop airlines, the Hawker Sadly 748's the airline's operations soon expanded to cover Papua New Guinea, Nauru and Majuro in the Marshall Islands, with charter services to the Cook Islands. The name Fiji Airways was changed to Air Pacific in July 1972 to reflect its growing role as a Pacific carrier. During this period the Fiji Government acquired Qantas shares and the first of the airline's fleet of turbo jet aircraft-the BAC1 - 11 entered operations, further extending the network to Pagopago and Tahiti. With the BAC1-11, the company expanded to Australia and New Zealand, serving Brisbane in 1973 and Auckland 1974. During the 1980's the airline developed further, having acquired larger aircraft like the Boeing 737-200 and for a period, operated DC-10 services to Hawaii. In 1985 with the lease of a Boeing 747-200, the airline began serving the main tourism routes from Australia and New Zealand, and the acquisition of a Boeing 767-200 in 1990 saw services increase further. In October 1988, once weekly service commenced to Japan. In October 1992, the airline relocated it's operations to it's newly built $18 million complex at Nadi Airport. By July 1994, flights commenced to mainland USA and in the same year, the beoing 767-300 arrived from Seattle to increase the Japan flights to twice weekly. In 1995, a Boeing 737-300 joined the fleet under joint lease to Air Pacific and Royal Tongan, and carried both airlines livery, one on each side. The fleet now consists of Beoing 747-200, a boeing 767-300ER, a New Generation 737-700 (took delivery in 1997), and two beoing 737-800 series which arrived in 1999. Airpacific now operates twice a weekly services to Japan, daily flights to Australia (Sydney, Melbourne & Brisban) and daily services to New Zealand (Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch). There are also four weekly flights to Los Angeles and twice weekly flights to Hawaii and Vancover. Today Air Pacific plays a major role in Fiji's Tourism industry, bringing in more than half the total visitors to Fiji.