Tonga’s Lulutai Airlines Resumes Flights After Suspension

Lulutai Airlines has resumed limited flight operations in Tonga after receiving a provisional permit from the Civil Aviation Division on July 23, 2025. The national carrier returned one of its in-house aircraft, a DHC-6-400 Twin Otter (registration A3-KLT), to service following a five-day grounding that left dozens of passengers stranded across the island nation.

Currently, A3-KLT is operating solely on the Tongatapu–Ha’apai route, helping to repatriate approximately 70 stranded passengers, including Tonga’s tourism minister, Mo’ale Finau. The airline announced that its second in-house aircraft, a Harbin Y12 (registration A3-SPV), was expected to return to service on July 23, but it has not yet resumed flights.

The Civil Aviation Division said Lulutai Airlines had addressed the safety and maintenance concerns that led to the suspension of its Part 145 maintenance certificate on July 18. Although specific details were not disclosed, the regulator emphasized that the airline would be under close supervision and warned that any future violations would result in immediate grounding without notice.

“The final decision regarding the full reinstatement or revocation of the suspension will be announced in due course,” the regulator added.

Meanwhile, Saab 340B aircraft ZK-CIZ, wet-leased from New Zealand’s Air Chathams, continued uninterrupted service between Tongatapu and Vava’u during the suspension. However, the 34-seater aircraft could not operate to smaller Tongan islands due to limited runway lengths and infrastructure constraints.

The airline’s partial return to service marks a step toward restoring full inter-island connectivity across Tonga.

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Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, ch-aviation.com