A Brief Guide To American Samoa’s Primary Airport

Summary

• Pago Pago Airport is the only US international airport in the Southern Hemisphere.
• Hawaiian Airlines connects Pago Pago with Hawaii and the US with more flights to neighboring Samoa.
• Pago Pago’s aviation peak was in the 1970s-1980s; Hawaiian Airlines remains the sole major carrier today.

American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States in the Southern Hemisphere. Pago Pago International Airport (also called the Tafuna Airport) is the only international airport serving the islands and their 45,000 inhabitants. Hawaiian Airlines connects the remote and often forgotten territory with Hawaii and onto the rest of the United States (although Pago Pago has more frequent flights to neighboring Samoa). Hawaiian Airlines enjoyed a remarkable rise from an interisland to an intercontinental airline. Today, it operates many flights across the Pacific and is the only US airline flying to American Samoa.

A southern international US airport

American Samoa comprises five main islands. Tutuila is the most populated and has the largest settlement (Pago Pago). In all, the territory of American Samoa has three airports: Pago Pago International Airport, Ofu Airport, and Fitiuta Airports (both minor airports on outlying islands). Pago Pago Airport is built partly on a fringing reef and is the only US international airport in the South Pacific and the islands’ international gateway.

Despite being a tiny and isolated airport, Pago Pago has received the largest airplane ever built. According to Goleta Air and Space Museum, in 2009, the Ukrainian (ex-Soviet) Antonov An-225 flew to the Pago Pago to deliver emergency power generation equipment following the 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami. The Antonov AN-225 was destroyed in the opening days of the Full-Scale Russian Invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Another notable time for Pago Pago involved the Apollo Program. According to NASA, Apollos 10, 12, 13, 14, and 17 splashed near Pago Pago. The astronauts were taken by helicopter to Pago Pago before being transported to Honolulu.

Pago Pago today

In 2014, Pago Pago International Airport received over 3,000 flights carrying around 55,700 passengers. The bulk of these flights are between Pago Pago and nearby Apia in the independent country of Samoa. The remaining ones are long-distance flights to Honolulu. Today, the airport operates only a limited number of flights and Hawaiian Airlines is the sole major airline serving Pago Pago International Airport.

Samoa Airways and Talofa Airways fly daily between the two Samoas, while Hawaiian Airlines offers twice-weekly flights from Honolulu. Hawaiian Airlines operates flights to Pago Pago twice-weekly from Honolulu during the low season (Mondays and Thursdays). From mid-May, it operates three weekly flights (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays). These flights take five hours and 40 minutes and typically cost over $500 one way.

Pago Pago also has flights to two small airports (Ofu Airport and Fitiuta Airport) on other islands of American Samoa. Samoa Airways serves these. Samoa Airways was to operate the Boeing 737 MAX, but this was eventually canceled, and Alaska Airlines decided to take them instead.

Talofa Airways is a small Samoan airline offering flights in Polynesia between American Samoa, Samoa, Tonga, and other islands in the Pacific (its fleet currently consists of two Rockwell 690B Turbo Commander aircraft). Apia in Samoa is the main gateway for Pago Pago and is much more connected with flights to Honolulu, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, and Australia. It is only a 25-minute flight across the International Date Line to Apia – the capital of independent Samoa.

While American Samoa is an American territory, US citizens (and other international travelers) must have a valid passport and an onward ticket to fly to the territory (no visas are required). According to the Department of State, non-citizen US nationals are required to get a visitor permit.

History of Pago Pago Airport

The story of how the imperial powers (UK, Germany, USA) of the late 19th came to partition Samoa is fascinating. In short, all three powers claimed Samoa, and an American and German fleet nearly went to war over the islands, but the ships were wrecked in a typhoon before they could fire in anger. Ultimately, Germany kept the larger part of Samoa (modern-day Samoa), the British got the Solomon Islands, and the Americans received American Samoa (which they still possess today).

As with so many airports throughout the Pacific, the airport was originally a military airfield. The airfield was known as Tafuna Airfield and was expanded during World War II (and the island was reinforced to defend against Japanese invasion). The first commercial trans-Pacific air service started in November 1946 by Pan American Airways as they resumed their post-war flights to Australia and New Zealand from Honolulu.

The peak of Pago Pago’s aviation came between 1975 and 1985 when the airport was used by airlines crossing the Pacific. Airlines include Pan Am, Air New Zealand, UTA French Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Samoa Air, Continental Airlines, and Air Pacific. However, Pago Pago’s significance as a destination declined, and by the end of the 1980s, only Hawaiian Airlines remained. This happened after neighboring Samoa’s Faleolo International Airport in Apia was lengthened and improved. At the same time, new aircraft started to be used to fly from the United States to Australia and New Zealand without the need for refueling.