Fiji Airways' Israel Charter Fiasco Moves Towards Trial

By Andrew Curran.

A commercial dispute between Fiji Airways and parties who chartered a plane to fly to Israel in 2023 is heading for trial in 2026, with the airline chasing more than FJD3.16 million (USD1.38 million) in unpaid charter fees, plus interest and costs.

The matter, Fiji Airways v. WABS Pacific Pte Ltd, remains in its early stages in Fiji’s High Court, but the court has recently heard allegations about non-compliance of previous orders and bounced cheques.

The primary defendant, Pacific Voyager, trading as WABS Pacific, is a civil engineering company that also organises charter flights. It has done business with Fiji Airways and other carriers for several years without incident. In this matter, it acted as a facilitator between ICEJ Fiji and Faith Harvest and Fiji Airways.

Over 170 passengers paid deposits on a package worth over FJD10,000 (USD4,367) per person to fly to Israel in late September 2023 for the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. Nine days later, Hamas launched its attack on Israel, throwing the region into turmoil.

Within days, the aircraft was wheeled into action to repatriate not only the charter passengers, but 46 other people from six different countries. The aircraft and its passengers arrived safely at Nadi Airport (NAN) on October 12, 2023. However, WABS Pacific and its clients say they lost control of the charter, which allegedly included non-fare paying Fiji Airways employees, government officials, and their family members on the return leg.

More problematic for the original charter parties, many of the passengers, having paid their deposits before travelling, failed to pay the rest on their return.

“Some passengers under the client never paid,” one of the organisers posted online recently. “The government used the return flight as a repatriation but didn’t settle with the carrier. (The government) took the credit publicly, speeches, press releases and a huge welcome ceremony, but the government refused to cover the bill of the repatriation flight. Fiji Airways still insisted the charter client owed.”

WABS Pacific’s owner, Michael Mausio, paid a non-refundable deposit of FJD100,000 in early September 2023. Second and third payments of FJD1.45 million (USD630,000), respectively, were due before the flight departed in late September. These were never paid. However, WABS Pacific signed a deed of forbearance and guarantee agreement, which resulted in the flight going ahead.

“We have worked with the airline previously on a number of other charters without issue and delay and have a cordial working relationship,” said Mausio recently.

Fiji Airways has since taken some heat from its majority government owner and local media for failing to make the chartering parties pay the full cost in advance. But Fiji Airways CEO Andre Viljeon said this was within the Fiji Airways’ normal business practice.

 

“The customer failed to pay their amount due on time,” Viljeon told a parliamentary standing committee in Suva last month. “This is despite being given a certain amount of leeway, which they did not honour. We are suing them for the recovery of the funds.”

 

Specifically, Fiji Airways counsel Nilesh Prasad told the court on October 17, 2025, that the airline was seeking FJD3,163,013.70 (USD1,381,288) plus interest and costs.

Other defendants in the case include Kane Holdings PTE Limited; trustees of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) (including the late Viliame Gonelevu, the late Aisake Kunanitu, Ana Soqeta, S. Tawakevou, and Mikaele Mudreilagi); Christian Mission Fellowship International Senior Pastor Manasa Kolivuso; and Michael Mausio.

In May 2025, counsel for the ICEJ members named as defendants sought to have the claims against them struck out. Aca Rayawa told the court that two of the defendants were dead and another two, Ana Soqeta and S. Tawakevou, neither authorised nor participated in the flight agreement signing. A fifth named ICEJ member, Mikaele Mudreilagi, who did sign it, was not a registered trustee. That application remains unresolved, but Fiji Airways opposes it.

Meanwhile, Mausio, who is also the owner and director of Kane Holdings, says he cannot pay Fiji Airways because the passengers haven’t paid his clients, so they haven’t paid him. He says around FJD2 million (USD870,000) remains unpaid. Separate to the Fiji Airways v. WABS Pacific Pte Ltd matter, Mausio is now suing the pilgrim passengers who failed to pay.

 

“We are only able to pay our supplier if our clients pay us,” said Mausio. “Given that Fiji Airways is pursuing legal action against us as charterers and guarantors, it is only natural that we, too, pursue legal recourse against our clients to recover the amounts owed.

 

During last week’s court mention, Prasad told Acting Master Liyanage Wickramasekera that a cheque from Mausio had bounced. In June, the court ordered Mausio, Kane Holdings, and WABS Pacific to pay FJD2,000 (USD870) in costs after failing to file their responses to Fiji Airways’ claims in time. The cheque, handed over in September, was returned by the bank unpaid.

Prasad also said that these three defendants had changed solicitors several times, asked for multiple adjournments, and created lengthy delays. They have not filed their responses to the original complaint. The ICEJ and Kolivuso have filed their responses in time and escaped penalty.

Wickramasekera increased the Mausio's costs order to FJD6,000 (USD2,600).

Submissions by Mausio and his related companies are now due to be filed by November 7, with the next mention on December 11, when a 2026 hearing date is expected to be set.

Photo: AI-Generated.