Fiji Airways has attributed the delays of last Thursday’s Nadi-Brisbane flight to flight crew illness.

The airline says all affected passengers were notified and re-scheduled to fly on the Nadi-Brisbane and Brisbane-Nadi flights the next day (Friday) using the larger A330 aircraft.

Upon touching down in Brisbane on Friday, Fiji Airways was alerted that the aircraft needed mechanical attention.

Following examination of the aircraft, it was determined the fix required an extra part to be flown in from another city, thus causing more delays.

Passengers who were connecting to Los Angeles were re-routed to fly direct, while some others were routed to Fiji via Sydney.

Others were booked to travel the next day.

Unfortunately the aircraft part arrived later than expected leading to a series of rolling delays to the departure time on Saturday.

The aircraft was deemed fit to fly on Saturday afternoon and departed Brisbane that day.

With regards to their Saturday Melbourne – Nadi flight, Fiji Airways said that due to an ill pilot they were met with a 14 hour delay.

As a result of the two delays outlined above, subsequent Fiji Airways flights to Auckland, Sydney and Los Angeles on Saturday and Sunday were delayed.

Fiji Airways is in the process of contacting all passengers to offer further assistance and compensation to those affected.