LONG BEACH, Calif. — Tiny Fiji Airways, with just 14 aircraft, is brimming with confidence, having this month become the smallest airline by fleet size to be named among the top 10 airlines in the world in the Airline Passenger Experience Association’s (APEX) awards.
Now, Fiji Airways will be looking to the U.S. for continued growth.
Andre Viljoen
“We pretty much don’t see much growth out of Australia and New Zealand, but we see a massive opportunity in the U.S.,” said outgoing CEO Andre Viljoen during an interview at the APEX/Future Travel Experience conference on Sept. 10. (Viljoen is leaving Fiji to assume the top post at Air Mauritius next month.)
The U.S., Australia and New Zealand combined account for approximately 90% of Fiji Airways traffic, Viljoen said, with the U.S. accounting for 20%. More than 95% of Fiji Airways business is inbound leisure customers.
The airline flies to four U.S. destinations: Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas-Fort Worth. No other airline connects the two countries nonstop.
Fiji’s biggest U.S. destination in terms of frequency is Los Angeles, from which it offers daily service. But Viljoen views Dallas, which the airline began serving three times per week in December, as its best opportunity for growth.
Filling daily flights between Los Angeles and Fiji’s international airport in Nadi has proven difficult, Viljoen said, because finding the necessary demand requires at least 50% of flyers to be connecting through LAX from another North American market. Fiji Airways’ entry on April 1 into the Oneworld Alliance, which includes dominant Dallas carrier American, combined with the launch of Fiji’s loyalty program partnership with American, should make it easier to attract connecting flyers through Dallas.
AAdvantage members who book on Fiji Airways earn points at the same rate as they do when booking on American. And Fiji Airways has codeshares with American to 240 cities.
“We have a massive partner that is happy to have us in Dallas offering an exotic destination for their loyalty program,” Viljoen said.
The airline plans to increase Dallas service to four times weekly early next year.
Though not in the immediate offing, Fiji Airways also has its sights set on Seattle, he said, where it could utilize its Oneworld partnership with Alaska Airlines.
Amenity kits discontinued
In the meantime, Fiji Airways flyers are likely to notice some of the service innovations that Viljoen has touted in conjunction with the airline’s landing in the APEX top 10.
One that stands out is its decision to do away with amenity kits, a marked difference from other high-service airlines, which frequently emphasize amenity kit enhancements in marketing materials.
“We’ve been measuring for years now how many people take the amenity kit home and actually value it and the number that are left behind,” Viljoen said of the change, which is now being implemented. “We started waking up that we are wasting money.”
In lieu of the kits, flight attendants pass through the business-class cabin with a tray of face creams, socks, headsets and other complimentary items.
“The primary motive is to be differentiating and to offer something better,” Viljoen said.
Fiji Airways has also dispensed with set meal servings in business class on Los Angeles and Dallas flights. Instead, meals will be served on demand.
On-demand service will be implemented on the San Francisco route in November and across Fiji Airways’ network by mid-2026.
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