Chief Minister Andrew Barr will meet with the head of Fiji Airways in the hopes of getting a direct flight between Canberra and Nadi International Airport.
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There will also be a push for direct flights between Canberra and Auckland, with Mr Barr to meet with senior representatives from Air New Zealand and the Auckland Airport.
The Chief Minister will travel to New Zealand and Fiji as part of a four-day trade mission, which will cost $18,000. He departed for the trip on Wednesday morning.
Mr Barr will have a series of meetings with New Zealand politicians, including the country's Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson and Transport Minister Michael Wood.
He will also meet with the new mayor of Wellington and travel sites in the New Zealand capital, which is Canberra's sister city.
Mr Barr said the trip would help to progress direct aviation links between Canberra and Auckland and Canberra and Nadi.
Canberra Airport management will also join Mr Barr on the trip to Auckland and Nadi.
"The ACT government has a clear ambition to connect Canberra and the region with places, markets and sectors where we have common interests," he said.
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If successful, it will be the first time Canberra has had a regularly scheduled direct flight to Auckland. Mr Barr has been lobbying Air New Zealand to fly to Canberra for years.
International flights from Canberra Airport were brought to a halt during the coronavirus pandemic, with both Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways stopping flights to and from Canberra.
Qatar Airways was due to return in September but this was delayed due to operational reasons. The airline is expected to return on December 1, with once-daily flights from Doha to Canberra via Melbourne.
Singapore Airlines has yet to return to Canberra Airport despite intense lobbying from the airport. The airline indefinitely suspended flights to and from Canberra in September 2020.
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Lucy Bladen
Lucy Bladen has been a journalist at The Canberra Times since 2019. She is an ACT politics and health reporter. Email: l.bladen@canberratimes.com.au
Lucy Bladen has been a journalist at The Canberra Times since 2019. She is an ACT politics and health reporter. Email: l.bladen@canberratimes.com.au
