International airline Air Pacific, or Fiji Air as it will be known soon, has been exposed as one of the world’s major carriers of shark fins into Hong Kong. The South China Morning Post has reported that the airlines’ new Airbus A330 aircraft were, according to a group of pilots familiar with its operations "basically a thinly-disguised freighter" carrying shark fins into the territory from the Fijian islands. A coalition of environmental groups claim in a letter to the airline that a “substantial amount” of the shark fins imported into Hong Kong arrive on Air Pacific.
Indeed the facts are that there were only 45 tonnes of cargo being carried between Hong Kong and Fiji in 2009. By the end of last year, the cargo volume was close to 1000 tonnes and this is on the main sea food of various types. Hong Kong Shark Foundation director Alex Hofford, said there had been a 20-fold leap in airfreight tonnage from Fiji to Hong Kong in just three years. "It's not pineapples or electronics that are being flown here from Fiji - you can be sure of that."
So next time you are on a half empty Fijian A330 and you wonder how they are staying in the black just think about what is under your feet! It seems from reports that it might well be the very same cargo that used to fly with Cathay Pacific until it banned shark fin cargo recently.
As a code share partner of Cathy Pacific, this places Air Pacific in a difficult position – Watch this space.
Fiji Air in hot water over bad cargo
