Fiji Airports took various measures to cushion the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their finances.

Chief Executive, Rowan Chalmers says these measures together with prudent and conservative financial management over the past several years allowed them to tackle the economic impact of the pandemic.

Giving his submission to the Standing Committee on Social Affairs on Fiji Airports 2020 Annual Report, Chalmers says the pandemic necessitated significant staff reductions as was the case in many organizations and across the entire aviation industry.

At the start of the pandemic Fiji Airports employed 520 people on a full-time basis, however, Chalmers says some positions within the organization became redundant due to the pandemic.

As a result, 30 staff lost their jobs which equates to some six percent of their staffing levels.

Furthermore, Chalmers says 37 staff who reached the age of 55 retired, as per the requirement under the States Services Act of 2009.

“Fiji Airports provided reasonable packages to all our staff. The affected staff also underwent a consultation process to ensure ample notification was served and their concerns were addressed.”

Chalmers says none of the staff who were sent home have been re-employed, although Fiji Airports has begun hiring as traffic volumes have started to recover.

He also highlighted that they continue to provide significant discounts to all their airport stakeholders, which were determined on a case-by-case basis and the severity of the COVID-19 impact on respective businesses.

“Despite these discounts eight tenants ended their terms with Fiji Airports and have relocated or closed their business operations at our airports. There is no doubt that had Fiji Airports not provided these discounts as part of our COVID-19 relief program the number of tenants closing their businesses would have been much higher.”

Chalmers says the rental discounts amounted to $23.7m for 2020.

2020 and 2021 were significantly challenging years for Fiji Airports, but Chalmers says they feel optimistic about the year ahead.

He adds the recovery in traffic is pleasingly strong, and they are hoping to reach 2019 levels of passenger numbers next year.