30/07/10, 05:48:01 EDT

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Solomon Airlines suspends local flights

smh.com.au

The Solomon Islands national airline has suspended all domestic flights with immediate effect.

The financially-troubled Solomon Airlines announced the suspension on Wednesday.

The move will disadvantage thousands of people who rely on its services to travel between the nation's scattered islands.

Airline officials could not be contacted for comment in the capital, Honiara.

It was unclear if the airline's international flights to and from Brisbane would be affected.

The Solomons government, which owns the airline, has had to bail it out in the past.

Finance Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo earlier this week expressed shock after chief executive Ron Sumsum announced the sacking of financial controller Baoro Koraua.

The minister said the only entity with the right to sack top airline executives was the new board of directors.

The board, headed by Central Bank Governor Rick Hou, had earlier appointed Koraua and given Sumsum three months' notice.

Koraua told the Solomon Star newspaper that the airline's board had assured him that Sumsum could not sack him.

He said he was not surprised some officials at the airline wanted to get rid of him.

"You'll be surprised at some of the things that I am uncovering since my taking up of the job," he said.

The Solomons Director of Civil Aviation Bill MacGregor later confirmed he had advised the airline of Civil Aviation requirements it must comply with.

The airline's domestic flights are made by De Havilland Twin Otter and Britten Norman Islander aircraft.

Its international flights between Honiara and Brisbane run four days a week using a leased Australian Oz Jet Boeing 737-200.

 Printable Version  | published Nov 07, 2007