SUVA, Fiji (21 May 2007) -- Fiji's international carrier Air Pacific will soon be removing some of its flights from its main routes including Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland and Tokyo due to a drop in passenger numbers. This is after the airline reported a 15 per cent reduction in passenger numbers in the first quarter of 2007 compared to the same period in 2006. Airline managing director and chief executive, John Campbell says the drop in passenger numbers is partially due to travel advisories (put in place after the December 5 military coup) but more significantly to media reports overseas of events in Fiji and increased competition from other destinations impacting on Fiji's value for money. Campbell says they expect until at least September to continue to reflect very slow demand. "As a consequence we will adjust our flight schedules to a level sufficient to service that demand. "This will involve removing some flights that we normally operate and in not starting the services that were planned. "Specifically, we will remove four flights weekly from Sydney, one flight weekly from Brisbane, three flights from Auckland, one from Tokyo and will not add a planned fifth weekly B747 flight between Nadi and Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Campbell has denied that Air Pacific has grounded its Boeing 747 jumbo jet due to a drop in passenger numbers. "The report is not correct. Both Boeing 747-400 aircraft are in continuous operations serving Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney and Los Angeles. He says an erroneous report was carried by Radio NZ which is believed to have arisen from misunderstanding from some comments made on the local television station, Fiji TV. | 
