Category Archives: Air Kiribati

Air Kiribati receives its first Embraer E190-E2 jet

Air Kiribati, the flag carrier of the Republic of Kiribati, received on December 30, 2019 its first Embraer E190-E2 jet.

Embraer announced the contract with the Government of Kiribati, in partnership with its national airline, Air Kiribati, in December 2018. The airline ordered two E190-E2s and has purchase rights for two more.

Photo: Embraer.

Air Kiribati is the launch operator for the E190-E2 in Asia Pacific. The aircraft will be configured in a dual class layout seating 92 passengers in total, with 12 seats in business class and 80 seats in economy class.

Located in the central Pacific, Air Kiribati can now fly longer domestic and international routes than it currently does with its turboprop fleet.

With a maximum range of up to 2,850 nautical miles, the E190-E2 can serve destinations throughout the vast expanse of Kiribati, including nonstop from Tarawa to Kiritimati (Christmas) Island, one of the most challenging routes in the Pacific. The current domestic flight from Tarawa to Kiritimati requires an international stopover in Fiji. Spanning four time zones and comprised of more than 30 islands, Kiribati is the only country in the world to be in all four hemispheres.

Air Kiribati made this announcement:

Air Kiribati is proud to announce that our Hon. Minister Willie Tokataake has taken delivery on behalf of the Government of Kiribati of the the first of two Embraer E190 E2 aircraft in Brazil.

Minister Tokataake at the delivery ceremony mentioned that “Aviation is critical for any island nation and Kiribati is no exception,” The arrival of our first jet today is the culmination of three years of vision, strategic thought, government focus, research, evaluation, hard work, commitment, partnership and a good measure of problem solving.”

Since 1995 Air Kiribati has offered international services but has been predominately focussed on providing domestic connections through the Gilbert Islands Group of Kiribati.

In 2016 Air Kiribati commenced domestic operations in the Line Island Group servicing both Washington and Fanning Islands.

In 2017 the IATA once again recognised Air Kiribati as an international airline once it was allocated its official two letter code IK and three numeric code 069.

This change is facilitating the airline to operate international operations once again.

Air Kiribati is a 100% government owned airline and is proud to carrier the flag of the nation of Kiribati. The Air Kiribati Board directly reports to the Minister for Information, Communication, Transport and Tourism Development (MICTTD).

Top Copyright Photo: PR-EHT is pictured at Palma de Mallorca on a refueling stop on January 1, 2020. It is due to become VH-IKJ. Air Kiribati Embraer E190-E2 (ERJ 190-300STD) PR-EHT (VH-IKJ) (msn 19020029) PMI (Javier Rodriguez). Image: 948690.

Route Map:

Air Kiribati to add two Embraer E190-E2 E-Jets

Embraer has announced the signing of a contract with the Government of Kiribati, in partnership with their national airline, Air Kiribati, for two firm orders for the E190-E2 E-Jets and two purchase rights for the same model.

With all purchase rights being exercised, the contract has a value of $243 million, based on current list prices. The order will be included in Embraer’s 2018 fourth-quarter backlog.

Scheduled for a 2019 delivery, the E190-E2 will enable the flag carrier for the Republic of Kiribati, located in the central Pacific, to fly longer domestic and international routes than it currently does with its turboprop fleet.

Air Kiribati will be the launch operator for the E190-E2 in the Asia Pacific region (excluding China). This order comes after a three-week Asia Pacific tour of the ‘Shark’ livery E190-E2 in October, which included a stop in Tarawa, the capital of Kiribati.

Spanning four time zones and comprised of more than 30 islands, Kiribati is the only country in the world to be in all four hemispheres.

With a maximum range of up to 2,850 nautical miles, the E190-E2 can operate over the vast expanse of Kiribati, including from Tarawa directly to Kiritimati (Christmas) Island, one of the most challenging routes in the Pacific. The current domestic connection from Tarawa to Kiritimati includes an international stopover in Fiji.

The E190-E2 is part of Embraer’s new generation E-Jets E2 family of aircraft, which can seat between 70 to 150 passengers. The E190-E2 specifically, can seat up to 114 passengers, and is the first member of the E-Jets E2 family of aircraft to enter into service in April 2018.

Embraer has been present in the region since the first Bandeirante was delivered in 1978 in Australia and has been providing comprehensive support and services through the years to aircraft based in Australia and in the Pacific region.

Image: Embraer.

Air Kiribati inaugurates a new route to Funafuti in the Pacific

Air Kiribati welcomed its first passenger onboard its inugural flight to Funafuti on March 13.

The airline continued;

Welcoming aboard the new 35-seat DHC-8-100 Dash 8 was Air Kiribati’s CEO Mr Tarataake Teannaki and Flight Attendants Sunita and Soni.

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Air Kiribati flies to domestic points in Kiribati such as Beru, Tabnorth, Nonouti, Makin and Onotoa with one de Havilland DHC-6-300 Twin Otter and three Harbin Y-12 IV aircraft’

Air Kiribati has had a proud tradition of being the national flag carrier for the Republic of Kiribati. Though only in existance since 1995, the organization can trace its roots back to the late 1970s with previous national carrier called Air Tungaru which serviced Kiribati for almost 20 years.

Since 1995 Air Kiribati has offered international services but has been predominately focussed on providing domestic connections through the Gilbert Islands Group of Kiribati.

In 2016 Air Kiribati commenced domestic operations in the Line Island Group servicing both Washington and Fanning Islands.

Air Kiribati is a 100% government owned airline’

All photos by Air Kiribati.

Route Maps (Gilbert Islands):

Line Islands:

Our Airline adds additional Air Kiribati titles to this Boeing 737

Our Airline-Air Kiribati Boeing 737-3Y0 VH-INU (msn 23684) (joint titles) SYD (John Adlard), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Our Airline (Nauru) has added Air Kiribati titles (left side only) to its Boeing 737-3Y0 VH-INU. Our Airline operates the Kiribati (Tarawa)-Fiji (Nadi) route for Air Kiribati.