Minister for Tourism Faiyaz Koya. [File photo]

In the last 11 days, Fiji Airways has had over 26,000 bookings.

Minister for Tourism Faiyaz Koya says after the announcement of reopening plans from 1 December, bookings for Fiji Airways has highly increased.

Koya says almost 90 percent of bookings for Fiji Airways flights and holiday packages were by Australians.

“That’s close to 12,000 packages alone booked. If you look at numbers in totality from the day of the announcement, Fiji Airways has over 26,000 bookings in the last 11 days. This is booking for those wanting to visit their friends and relatives in Fiji with bookings done through hotels and online travel agents. “

Koya says before the announcement, there were 10,000 bookings already for December and January.

He adds they are looking at close to 50,000 bookings with Fiji Airways.

He adds that’s revenue for Fiji Airways, but it’s also revenue for the hotels, revenue for the economy, and income for families.

He adds they have full confidence and faith in our national airline and they are getting close to capacity bookings till January 2022.

The Tourism Minister says Fiji Airways will be the first airline that carries commercial passengers from Australia to Fiji, followed by Virgin and Qantas by December.