Air Traffic Control Officers  have taken various forms of leave  which has resulted in a skeleton staff now manning the control towers.

In a statement from the Traffic Control Officers, this is due to a disagreement with Fiji Airports Limited on pay and work-related operational issues.

They state that these issues have persisted over the past few years and have been reported to FAL management.

According to the staff, since 6am Monday 18th March 2019, approximately 80 percent of the Air Traffic Control Officers have individually taken various forms of leave entitlement.

The statement further says that services are currently being provided by five ATC officers who have worked continuously for the past 48 hours.

The normal daily compliment for the Nadi Center, the Nadi Tower and the Nausori Tower are 17 officers.

The staff also stated that based on emails received from Fiji Airports Management, progressive salary based on promotion and career progression are being deliberately misrepresented by Fiji Airports Management as a means to demonstrate that massive pay increases have been affected, while in reality, this is not the case.

They say that this issue remains unresolved at the moment and they are hoping that an amicable resolution is achieved at the earliest.

When contacted, the Fiji Airports Limited state they will send out a statement soon.