Air Kiribati (pronounced Air Kiri'bas) is the flag carrier of the Republic of Kiribati and operates scheduled passenger services to 20 atolls spread over an area of 3.5m sq km.
It is headquartered at Bonriki International Airport on the island of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. The airline operates an international service from Tarawa to Tuvalu. Regional charter flights, medical evacuation and search and rescue services are also undertaken by the airline.
After the Air Tungaru activities ceasing in 1994, Air Kiribati has offered since 1995 some international services but has been predominately focussed on providing domestic connections through the Gilbert Islands. Then in 2016, Air Kiribati commenced also domestic operations in the Line Islands, servicing from Kiritimati both Washington and Fanning islands.
The Air Kiribati board directly reports to the Ministry of Information, Communications, Transport and Tourism Development (MICTTD).
Until 2008, it was the only airline to offer flights domestically.
In January 2009, a new Kiribati based airline was established, Coral Sun Airways, with charter flights within the Gilbert Islands (Western region of Kiribati). Coral Sun Airways are also the only Kiribati-registered airline to operate between Gilbert Islands and Line Islands (Eastern Region of Kiribati) since Air Kiribati stopped using their ATR-72.
Air Kiribati is governed by a board which directly reports to Tekeeua Tarati, the Minister for Information, Communication, Transport and Tourism Development (MICTTD).
Air Kiribati is 100% owned by the Government of Kiribati.
On 31st July Kobebe Taitai was appointed as acting CEO.
In February 2020 Captain Philip Statham became CEO after Tarataake Teannaki moved to become Secretary for Information, Communications, Transport and Tourism Development. Air Kiribati is looking for a new CEO, after position vacant, since August 2021. The position is now only open to Kiribati nationals.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Kiribati known as a Civil Aviation Division is one of the Governmental divisions under the Ministry of Information, Communications, Transport and Tourism Development (MICTTD) and is responsible for all Aviation activities in the country.The primary aviation legislation used are:
The actual regulations used are primarily from New Zealand, the NZCARs.
Air Kiribati operates domestic flights linking all the Gilbert Islands. The Line Islands and Phoenix Islands, with 8,809 and 20 inhabitants, respectively, are too far from the Gilbert Islands to be considered commercially viable to serve from Tarawa, although Air Kiribati's only rival airline, domestic Coral Sun Airways, was examining the purchase of a new aircraft capable of flying Tarawa-Canton Island-Kiritimati.
On September 2021, Air Kiribati leases one Solomon Airlines aircraft to operate domestic services.
It is possible to fly from Tarawa to Kiritimati, but only via Nadi, Fiji. There are some direct fights chartered by Air Kiribati for students during holidays.
As of December 2019, Air Kiribati consists of following aircraft:
In December 2019, the first Embraer E190-E2, in Air Kiribati livery, was delivered to the airline. The E190-E2 has been certified and registered to the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) since the beginning of 2020.
The Embraer E190-E2 has a maximum range of 5,278 km (2,850 nm). It retains cockpit commonality with its predecessor - E190. E190 pilots will only require a 2.5 days transition training with no flight simulator time needed to be able to fly the E190-E2.
Air Kiribati acting CEO Danial Rochford previously pointed out that "the type's increased range deemed it a "perfect choice" for the carrier." Acting CEO Danial Rochford says that the E190-E2 will offer “opportunities to fly from Australia and New Zealand direct to Kiribati”.
The E190-E2 is able to operate every required route in the Air Kiribati network when it receives ETOPS 120 minutes certification and also allow the airline to operate longer-haul domestic and international routes including connections that had so far been beyond the reach of its current fleet of turboprops.
The Kiribati Transport Minister stated: "non-stop operations between the capital Tarawa and Kiritmati (Christmas) island [sic] currently requires an international stop in Fiji. With a range of 2,850 nautical miles, the E190-E2 can operate throughout the country with non-stop routes."
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