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Samoa Airways' plan to fly to LAX

Source: One Mile at a Time

While I’m skeptical of this actually ever happening, American Samoa governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga has indicated that Samoa Airways plans to launch flights to Los Angeles International Airport. The airline is owned by the government, which would explain why a government official is making a statement about a new route for the airline.

He says that to get around US cabotage rules, the flight would operate from Apia to Pago Pago, pick up the territory’s passengers, and then return to Apia, before continuing to Los Angeles. That’s quite a process.

Currently there are no flights between Samoa and the US mainland, though Hawaiian Airlines flies between Pago Pago and Honolulu, and Fiji Airways flies between Nadi and Honolulu via Apia. Both routes are operated with limited frequencies.

Now, the challenge here is that this flight would cover a distance of ~4,800 miles, and Samoa Airways doesn’t have a plane capable of operating the route. The airline has a fleet of four planes, including a single 737, as well as three turboprops.

That one 737 is just leased from Malindo Air, and is expected to be returned at the end of the year. Furthermore, the airline was supposed to get a 737 MAX 9, but that order has been canceled following the groundings of the 737 MAX

Read more at One Mile at a Time

Ben Schlappig (aka Lucky) is a travel consultant, blogger, and avid points collector. He travels about 400,000 miles a year, primarily using miles and points to enhance his first class experiences. He chronicles his adventures, along with industry news at One Mile at a Time.