International flights will return to Canberra Airport for the first time in more than three years when Fiji Airways begins flying to the capital.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, Fijian Deputy Prime Minister Viliame Gavoka and airport officials are expected to announce on Friday a new direct route between Canberra and Nadi.
A media conference has been scheduled, though details of the flights are not yet confirmed.
Fiji Airways currently sells tickets between Canberra and Nadi, though those flights include a stopover in Sydney.
A direct flight is likely to take four to five hours.
Mr Barr travelled to Fiji late last year to meet the airline's chief executive and Nadi airport staff.
The new route will be Canberra's first international flight since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020.
At that time, two international carriers — Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways — were flying from Canberra, though only Singapore's flights were direct.
Both airlines suspended their services indefinitely when the pandemic began, and neither have committed to returning.
Singapore Airlines later cited the impact of the pandemic and a lack of passenger demand as reasons for pulling out of the ACT.
Canberrans were once able to fly directly to Nadi via Air Pacific, as Fiji Airways was then known, though those flights ended in 2004.
'Gives us access to North America'
One tourism industry leader said the news was highly significant, but about far more than Fiji as a destination.
Canberra Regional Tourism Leaders' Forum chair David Marshall told the ABC Fiji was aiming to becoming the Pacific's international travel hub.
"The benefit of the Fiji flights is that [Fiji Airways] fly into San Francisco and Los Angeles, and also into Vancouver," he said.
"It gives us access to North America — that's the key to this."
Mr Marshall suggested Canberra travellers might stay overnight or a couple of days in Fiji before heading to the United States or Canada, or vice-versa.
He said this would benefit everyone, including Fijian businesses.
The local tourism industry is also hoping international flights will help the ACT market grow.
Canberra Region Tourism Industry Council chief executive Naomi Dale, who also lectures in tourism management at the University of Canberra, said businesses had been operating below capacity since the pandemic.
"We're wanting to see an increase in those [tourism] numbers, because we're still not quite at capacity with our hotels," she said.
Dr Dale noted Canberra Airport was built to cater for international travel and a higher volume of passengers.
"We're definitely ready to take those international flights and flights of all sizes," she said.
