Three airlines serving the inter Samoa route have added several extra flights since Dec. 13 to accommodate the heavy Christmas traffic to Samoa, according to airline officials.

Polynesian Airlines, South Pacific Express (SPEX) and Inter island Airways have all added more than two flights a day to Samoa and are carefully watching passenger load to see if more flights will be needed.

Airline officials told Samoa News on Friday that flights this week all the away up to Christmas Eve have been sold out for a long time and even the extra flights were immediately sold out.

The airline officials also noted traffic to Samoa “is always very heavy” this time of the year and there are always many travelers, who wait till the last minute to make reservations.

“We still have people looking for seats but flights have been full for a while,” said Brent Schwenke, the local station manager for the Samoa government owned Polynesian Airlines. “We have added extra flights and all these flights are booked up to December 28.”

Schwenke says Polynesian is operating an average of 10 flights a day. Polynesian is utilizing the carrier’s two Twin-Otter aircraft, which seat up to 19 passengers apiece.

At SPEX, the carrier has been fully booked since the beginning of the month and the airline is operating an average of about 5 flights a day and “that’s alot of passengers traveling to Samoa if you take into consideration that our aircraft, a Dash 8, accommodates up to 30 passengers a flight”, said SPEX official Roberta ‘Bobby’ Huff-Lausen.

She says SPEX is not having problems accommodating passengers because most of them made reservations in advance, purchase tickets and then show up at the airport to check in without any problems.

“But it’s the last minute travelers... who are having problems at this point,” she said. “I think many travelers, who usually travel by air, are well aware this time of the year is always a busy travel time, so they do their planning in advance.”

Huff-Lausen did point out the carrier is doing its best to accommodate last minute passengers. She also said that extra flights have been added after Christmas, due to the heavy traffic returning from Apia.

In the spirit of the holiday season and as a tradition for SPEX, the carrier is not operating on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day, to give staff and management time off to celebrate the holidays with their families and friends.

At Inter Island Airways, the airline is operating an average of four to five flights a day. The Samoa government has in place “two flights a day limitation” on Inter Island and any extra flight requires the locally-based carrier to make an official request for approval.

An Inter Island official says the carrier has been adding extra flights since Dec. 12 and flights are still full but are trying to accommodate all passengers heading to Samoa for the holidays.

Besides Apia, Inter Island also provides flights to Manu’a and additional flights are added as the need arises. Inter Island utilizes a Dornier aircraft that sits up to 19 passengers.

And if you want to travel by sea on the MV Lady Naomi, local agent Polynesian Shipping said this week’s sail is already sold out and there are no extra sails for the holidays.

The MV Lady Naomi usually arrives on a Thursday, but this year both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on a Thursday.

The Samoa government owned vessel’s Christmas sail is Dec. 23 (tomorrow, Tuesday) and the last sail of 2008 is Dec. 30 (also a Tuesday).

Polynesian Shipping had requested an extra sail for the holiday, but Samoa Shipping Corporation, which operates the Samoa government vessels, declined the request.

Sources in Apia said the problem is the sail from here to Apia will be full, but the sail from Apia to Pago Pago would be empty and that would be a loss for the vessel, which accommodates just over 200 passengers.

Polynesian Shipping said last week’s sail was the heaviest of the cargo load for the entire  year. Tomorrow’s sail is booked with passengers and a heavy cargo load.

The three airlines as well as Polynesian Shipping/Samoa Shipping Corporation all wish the people of American Samoa a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.