Sounds like the way a near neighbour airline was being managed - some have said ineptly - about 2 years ago.

Where are the three stooges nowadays?

Is the marriage on shakey ground?

Back in the air..
 

https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flig...ageActivityLog
Seems to be flying a lot in the last week, just not to Tarawa.

The Townsville refueler claims that Pionair no longer have the E2 contract for Air Kiribati. That leaves them with a lonely E1 not on the AOC yet.

CASA proving flights by the looks of it.

ANYONE KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON?
 

My local contact has gone very , very quiet and news from Bankstown has also ceased. Can anyone else fill in the gaps? Where is the jet?

. Rumours here on the Sunny Coast that the CEO is looking for both a house and a job. Apparently he fled Tarawa with one other a couple of weeks ago and will not return.

How does that leave the local operation? Hopefully there is sufficient local talent and competency in the regulatory oversight to ensure a safe operation. Time will tell.

Before the information from locals ended there was talk of an external audit. When it is released that report will make interesting reading, to be sure.

Gne

the engine is buggered and no money to fix it

I had heard that the Engine Manufacturer was doing it as a warranty claim. Supposedly getting changed in Bankstown right now.

So what’s the go here?
does Pionair actually have their E190 on the AOC?
surely the Kiribati govt. must be losing patience?

It's all done and dusted. E2s back into storage and the E1 will be sold.

What happened?

Sold to who? I know Cobham are expanding their E190 fleet and looking for type-rated pilots at the moment.

Something is amiss in Tarawa/Kiribati..

Coral Sun Air, apparently is owned by the Jong family? and have two WW1124 Westwind jets, H4-CSA believed to be in Tarawa and not flown since Jan 2020, and the other is H4-ZYH last seen at Banda Aceh in March 2021.

The former Hevilift/Skytek B200 King Air P2-ALC, painted in Coral Sun paint scheme appears to be operating from Honiara.

I cant imagine anyone competent would be maintaining Westwinds on a remote Island Atoll.

The local airline operates Twin Otters on the H4, T3 and P2 register.

Would appear the Kiribati Aviation regulator has no idea what's going on; you would have to have serious concerns over airworthiness, crew skill and recency.

And they own or lease an Embraer; something smells like "brown envelopes" and dark and shady deals.....

The Kingair is now also on the H4 register. There were some questions asked about the AOC approval process...

The P2 Twin Otter is leased from Skytech / Hevilift
The two H4 Twin Otters are leased from Solomon Airlines
The T3 Twin Otter (and Y12) are owned by Air Kiribati

Not sure what is happening with Pionair / the Embraer. Note brakeriders post mentions it, but is a little short on detail,

Airborne again
 

Flew Bankstown to Sydney and vv on 1 November. Hope crew has had a nice 7 month rest!

Coral Sun now operating from Honiara.

CAAK and Air Kiribati are brothers both under the government. Air Kiribati has gotten away with many issues from their brothers at CAAK. Airworthiness, crew skills and recency have always been an issue.
Embraer deal was definitely shady, they initially looked at old jets due to budget and out of nowhere 2 brand new jets signed and the CEO and his deputy resigned right after. The place has always been toxic with incompetent management. CEO and deputy previously who signed the E190s were both from the tourism department and had no idea about aviation and running an airline business.

E2 returned to Wellcamp for storage today

Wow how embarrassing what a **** show. Wasted the peoples money.

Copied and pasted from a Kiribati news group about the recent landing at Gold Coast

"YBCG is an airport in the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

The aircraft was seen touching down within the last hour according to Queensland Planespotters.

The Embraer aircraft belongs to Air Kiribati Ltd, a company owned and run by the Government of Kiribati.

Delivered in the last quarter of 2019, it has been “looked after” by an aviation company in Australia and to date has not undertaken any commercial flights as was the intention - to provide a solution to Kiribati’s international travel needs, to connect the country with the outside world for its tourism and, last but not the least to rake in revenue for the country.

Kiribati President Taneti Maamau told media reporters earlier this year that the Embraer aircraft is draining $200K from public funds every month just for the aircraft to be maintained.

Despite queries raised by the public and in parliament, the Government of Kiribati has not responded to the peoples’ concerns about the aircraft particularly on how the Taneti administration plan to revive the multimillion dollar project."

What happened to the other E190 that arrived last year