Samoan Civil Aviation Minister Olo Fiti Va’ai says a Pago Wings (Pago Pago) flight from American Samoa to Samoa did have an appropriate landing permit despite suggestions to the contrary in local media.
Whether the June 19, 2024, flight from Pago Pago to Apia Faleolo complied with local laws was questioned but Olo said it was a charter flight that had received the right charter permit. The Samoa Observer news outlet raising the concerns but did not say why there were raised in the first place.
Pago Wings, attempting to start an on-demand charter operation around American Samoa as a precursor to scheduled flights, has been accused of breaching local flight regulations before. Earlier this year, it was alleged the carrier had improperly operated charter flights between the American Samoan islands of Tutuila/Pago Pago and Manu’a, sparking a US FAA investigation into whether it had illegally conducted Part 135 flights. Pago Wings has cooperated with that investigation and ch-aviation understands that the operator expects it to be concluded shortly with no action taken.
The owners of Pago Wings, husband and wife team Papaalii Laulii Alofa and Wanda Alofa, also own Pacific Air Charters (Honolulu). They hope to start operations around American Samoa using a fleet of Tecnam P2012s. Pago Wings currently leases four of them (with a further two possible within the next 12 months), which are presently sub-leased by Pacific Air Charters.
