AIR TRAVEL IN THE PACIFIC
The Pacific is a vast area, home to numerous island-states scattered over thousands of kilometres. The region, from Papua New Guinea to Pitcairn Island, crosses five time zones and spans over 8,000 kilometers. Because of the large distances between the various islands in this region, air travel is an important form of transportation.
As a major travel hub, Fiji plays an important role for deployment of resources to respond to disasters around the region. However, due to the geographic nature of the region and international flight route patterns, reaching Pacific islands is difficult even within the region. Few direct flights connect the islands, necessitating multi-leg journeys that may require extensive stopovers, prticularly via Autsralia and New Zealand. Two territories, Tokelau and Pitcairn, have no runaways and are reachable only by boat
