Fiji Airports supports aviation development in the Blue Pacific

2025-05-05

For seven long years, air traffic controllers at Cassidy International Airport on Christmas Island worked inside a confined 20-foot container, guiding planes in and out of one of the most remote islands in the Pacific.

Just meters away stood a fully constructed but unused control tower — its white walls a daily reminder of unrealized potential.

That changed in February 2025, when two seasoned experts from Fiji Airports, Waqa Taukei and Nemani Chung, answered the call for help.

The tower at Cassidy International Airport had been completed in 2018, but due to unresolved technical issues — most notably, an unstable power supply — it remained unused for air traffic control operations. Controllers instead relied on the containerised facility, operating with limited resources under far-from-ideal conditions.

“We were told the trip was just for a survey,” said Mr. Taukei, a veteran electrician with over 40 years of service at Fiji Airports. “But once we saw the situation on the ground, we knew we had to act.”

Upon arrival on February 18, 2025, the gentlemen quickly discovered the root of the issue; while the building was ready and all air traffic control equipment was present, it had never been installed due to a lack of stable electricity. The local power grid — similar in design to Fiji's Energy Fiji Limited (EFL) — suffered from frequent fluctuations, with power cycling off and on up to six times a day.
“In aviation, that kind of power instability is not acceptable,” explained Taukei. “It puts operations and safety at risk.”

Meanwhile, the containerised temporary tower had been operating reliably with power drawn from two 88KW diesel generator located just five meters away.

“The idea was simple yet transformative: why not supply the main tower building and the Cassidy Airport terminal Building with power from the same generator?

“The Tower and the Terminal Building were approximately 1.5km apart while underground cable already available but the switchboard safety transfer systems were not terminated at both ends.

The solution required more than just an idea — it demanded action. The team dug a 20m trench, laid underground cables and connected the tower to the 88KW diesel generator’s switchboard. The 1.5km underground cable to the terminal building was also terminated at the Tower switchboard through the safety transfer system.

“We only spent AUD $755.00 (FJD$1,099.80) to purchase the electrical materials needed to fix a problem that had gone unresolved for seven years,” Taukei said.

With a stable power source finally in place, Nemani, the senior aeronautical technical officer utilised his expertise to relocate the Air Traffic Control (ATC) equipment from the container into the tower and also undertook repairs on the Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) at the end of runway 08 — further enhancing the airport’s operational capabilities.

On February 24, 2025, the Air Nauru flight was successfully guided from the newly activated tower — a historic first after seven years.

For Taukei, now Fiji Airports Senior Manager Special Projects- Renewable Energy the impact of the mission extended beyond technical fixes. “This was about restoring dignity to the controllers and giving the airport what it has deserved all along,” he said. The ATC controllers also graduated from the Fiji Airports Aviation Academy. The team returned home on the 26th of February.

Fiji Airports chief executive Mesake Nawari said the work carried out at Cassidy International Airport is a testament to what can be achieved through technical expertise, collaboration, and the will to do more than what’s asked.

“When the request came to Fiji Airports, we were more than willing to provide technical assistance and help our fellow Pacific brothers,” Nawari said.

“This is about assisting our Pacific Islands States and in particular ensuring safety is always maintained in our airspace. This kind of support contributes to achieving our vision; To Be The World Class Aviation Hub for the Blue Pacific.”