One Pacific Airways acquires ERJ-145 ahead of planned launch

By Andrew Curran.

Micronesian start-up carrier One Pacific Airways has acquired an ERJ-145LR from Australian Corporate Jet Centres ahead of its planned launch of scheduled flights as soon as next month.

Aero South Pacific understands that the promoters of One Pacific Airways purchased the 26-year-old Embraer, formerly registered as VH-JGR (MSN 145307). The aircraft seats 50 passengers in a single economy-class cabin and has been stored at Melbourne Essendon Airport (MEB) since April. It is a singularly distinctive aircraft, being painted in bold red.

More recently, the Embraer was removed from the Australian aircraft register. It is expected to be registered in Micronesia as V6-SEA. There have been claims that the aircraft has already ferried to Micronesia, but flight-tracking websites do not substantiate that. The transaction was handled by UK-based remarketing business Skyworld Aviation.

One Pacific Airways has begun selling tickets on its website for twice-weekly return flights between Pohnpei (PNI) and Kosrae (KSA), starting on November 17, 2026. Both islands are part of the Federated States of Micronesia. One Pacific’s website suggests that the airline will be based in Pohnpei.

Other destinations listed in the booking portal’s drop-down menu include Majuro (MAJ), Yap (YAP), Palau (ROR) and Chuuk (TKK), although flights to those airports have not gone on sale.

Aero South Pacific has contacted One Pacific Airways for comment.

Flights to connect Micronesia's islands

As previously reported by Aero South Pacific, the airline, which can be traced back to Taiwanese national Chih Yuan Wang, wants to operate inter-island services around Micronesia and neighbouring countries to address what he calls “critical gaps in inter-island travel”.

Wang has substantial interests in the seafood industry, with businesses in the United States, Taiwan and elsewhere. One Wang-controlled entity, Da Yang Enterprises, has a multi-million-dollar commercial presence in Kosrae and, according to the Pohnpei State Public Information Office, is “backing” One Pacific Airways.

Micronesia contains around 600 islands, of which approximately 10% are inhabited. Aero South Pacific’s Micronesia Country Brief notes that there is no local scheduled airline and that the only foreign operators flying into the country are United Airlines and Nauru Airlines.

United flies to Micronesia’s three main airports, Pohnpei, Chuuk and Kosrae, while Nauru Airlines flies to Pohnpei.

Aero South Pacific also reported that One Pacific held discussions with Nauru Airlines in Singapore about commercial and operational opportunities in August. One Pacific’s website indicates that it wants to operate flights from Palau through to Yaren (INU) in Naoero and Majuro, stopping at airports in between, effectively creating an east–west connector service across Micronesia.

The illustrated network map indicates that One Pacific Airways intends to provide connecting services for passengers using larger airlines serving those airports, including United Airlines in Majuro, Qantas in Palau and Nauru Airlines in Naoero. However, there has been no announcement of any interline agreements.

Photo: Skyworld Aviation
Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com