Air Tungaru

Last updated
Air Tungaru
IATA ICAO Callsign
VKTUN
Founded1977
Ceased operations1996
Hubs Bonriki International Airport
Destinations20
Headquarters South Tarawa, Kiribati

Air Tungaru was the first airline of Kiribati. As the predecessor of current Air Kiribati, it was Kiribati's national flag carrier. Air Tungaru's main base was the international airport at Kiribati's capital, South Tarawa. From there, regular service was provided to all 16 domestic airports in the Gilbert Islands.

Contents

According to its June 14, 1981 timetable, Air Tungaru initially operated a Boeing 727-100 jetliner with international service between Tarawa and Honolulu, Hawaii, United States via a stop on Kiritimati (listed as Christmas Island in the timetable) as well as nonstop service between Tarawa and the Tuvaluan capital Funafuti, the latter service being operated with a small de Havilland Heron prop aircraft. [1] This same timetable also lists nonstop service between Kiritimati (Christmas Island) and Papeete, Tahiti operated in association with Union de Transports Aériens (UTA), a French airline that was eventually merged into Air France. [2]

Destinations

An Air Tungaru Boeing 737-200 parked at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in 1992 Air Tungaru Boeing 737-200 (T3-VAL) at Honolulu Airport.jpg
An Air Tungaru Boeing 737-200 parked at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in 1992
United States
Oceania

Fleet

Air Tungaru operated the following aircraft: [3]

Air Tungaru fleet
AircraftTotalIntroducedRetiredNotes
Boeing 727-100 119811984Replaced with a Boeing 737-200
Boeing 737-200 119911993
Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander 219781996
CASA C-212 Aviocar 119821996
de Havilland Heron 119811982

See also

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References

  1. "Air Tungaru".
  2. "Air Tungaru".
  3. "Air Tungaru fleet". aerobernie.bplaced.net. Retrieved February 20, 2021.