Lulutai Airlines (L8, Tongatapu) has resumed flight operations with one of its two in-house aircraft, a DHC-6-400, under a provisional permit issued by Tonga's Civil Aviation Division on July 23, 2025. A five-day grounding of the carrier stranded dozens of passengers across the Pacific country.
A3-KLT (msn 929) is currently operating exclusively between Tongatapu and Ha'apai, where the grounding stranded around 70 passengers including Tonga's minister of tourism, Mo'ale Finau. Lulutai Airlines said that its other in-house aircraft, Y12 A3-SPV (msn 32), would restart flight operations on July 23, although it has yet to do so.
The country's regulator said that the airline had addressed the concerns that led to the suspension of its Part 145 maintenance certificate on July 18, although it did not specify the lapses. It added that Lulutai would remain closely supervised and any future breaches will result in grounding without further notice.
"A final decision on full revocation or reinstatement of the suspension will be communicated in due course," the regulator said.
Saab 340B ZK-CIZ (msn 340B-547) damp-leased from New Zealand's Air Chathams continued to operate between Tongatapu and Vava'u and was not affected by the grounding. However, due to insufficient runway lengths and infrastructure limitations, the 34-seater was not able to serve any of the other Tongan islands.
