Fiji Airways secures newest ATR72 on lease from DAE

By Andrew Curran.

Fiji Airways most recent ATR72 delivery was obtained on a 12-year operating leased from Dubai Aerospace (DAE).

“This leasing structure allows Fiji Airways to manage capital expenditure responsibly while maintaining fleet modernisation and ensuring operational efficiency,” a Fiji Airways spokesperson told The Fiji Times.

Last week, Aero South Pacific flagged the ATR’s arrival in Fiji in its regularly updated list of aircraft deliveries and exits.

The brand new 68-passenger ATR72-600, DQ-FLD (msn 1743), ferried in from Toulouse (TLS) to Nadi (NAN) via Alexandria (HBE), Abu Dhabi (AAN), Hyderabad (HYD), U-Tapao (UTP), Davao (DVO), Jayapura (DJJ), and Honiara (HIR) over five days between January 2 and 7, 2026. Focus Aero operated the ferry flight.

Fiji Airways operates six ATRs (five ATR72-600s and one ATR42-600) to service its domestic network under its Fiji Link brand. In addition to DQ-FLD, at least two other ATR72s are leased from DAE and one  from Avation.

DQ-FLD began Fiji Link revenue flights on January 10, starting with a Nadi – Labasa (LBS) round-trip. It has since operated every day, including flying 12 sectors on January 12.

"Every new aircraft allows us to further strengthen domestic and regional connectivity,” said Fiji Link Chief Operations Officer Athil Narayan.

Photo credit: AI-Generated.

Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com