Fijian PM speaks out about Sunflower Aviation dispute

By Andrew Curran.

Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has spoken out about the dispute between the country’s civil aviation authority and Joyce Aviation Group, the owner of charter carrier Sunflower Aviation and a flight training school.

Rabuka said there was a need for an independent review of Fiji’s aviation safety and oversight.

“Take it out of Fiji, and get somebody else to look in,” he told the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation this week, suggesting the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) were the people to perform the task.

Following a regulatory assessment, the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji recently declined to renew Sunflower Aviation’s aircraft maintenance organisation certificate, forcing Joyce Aviation to suspend its charter and flight training businesses. CAAF said there were significant and recurring safety non-compliances, although it has never detailed them.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Civil Aviation, Viliame Gavoka, has steadfastly backed the CAAF, saying they are professional and that they will not compromise aviation safety.

No safety issues say Joyce Aviation Group owner

Tim Joyce, owner of Joyce Aviation Group, says the certification refusal is down to personality issues, rather than safety issues. He says there was a technical disagreement over approvals for engineers doing routine inspections, a procedure that the company had “followed to the letter.”

Specifically, Joyce says there was a Cessna 172 training aircraft previously operating in Nausori. The aircraft’s daily pre-flight inspection had been signed by a CAAF-licensed aircraft maintenance engineer. That engineer was fully qualified and competent but, at the time, wasn't listed on Sunflower Aviation’s internal approval list for that specific aircraft type. 

“The Fiji Government has quietly backtracked on its dramatic claims against Sunflower Aviation,” he has posted on Facebook. “After loudly accusing the company of ‘serious safety non-compliances,’ the ministry has now deleted all safety allegations from its press release and replaced it with a short, vague statement.”

“Minister Viliame Gavoka wasn’t protecting public safety. He was simply repeating whatever CAAF fed him, without facts to back it up. And when the truth couldn’t be defended, the ministry didn’t correct it — they just hid it.”

“Sunflower Aviation was one of Fiji’s brightest aviation success stories,” Joyce said a separate Facebook post.

“A company that trained young pilots, employed skilled staff, and ran a fleet of aircraft with pride. For years, it was a shining example of what Fiji could achieve in aviation.”

“And now? It’s being bullied into the ground by the very regulator meant to safeguard our skies.”

“Let’s be clear - this is not regulation. This is harassment. Pure bureaucratic cruelty. CAAF ordered Sunflower to stop flying. Six planes grounded. Over a hundred students stranded.”

Fijian PM tries to avoid Sunflower shutdown

Prime Minister Rabuka told journalists that the shutdown of Joyce Aviation involved many people and that he "tried" intervening.

“I asked that they solicit the support of ICAO to come in and audit our safety requirements,” he said, adding that bringing in an outside party would remove any perceived conflicts of interest with local operators, the regulator and government.

Gavoka says that CAAF continues to work with Joyce Aviation Group.

Photo: Sunflower Aviation.

Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com