Fiji Sun

Fiji Airways SOARs into Publicatio­n

Then onboard Fiji Airways, we had the Bula smiles; that Bula spirit. There was something different about this airline and it was the first time I was on Fiji Airways.

Shashank Nigam Founder of SimpliFlyi­ng and author of SOAR: Fiji Airways Special Edition.

Anewly launched book showcases Fiji’s national airline’s journey. The launch of ‘SOAR: Fiji Airways Special Edition’ happened at the Fiji Airways Aviation Academy in Namaka, Nadi on Thursday.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Finance and Strategic Planning, National Developmen­t and Statistics, Biman Prasad, said he had a deep sense of pride, admiration, and joy at what Fiji Airways has been able to achieve.

The publicatio­n summarises Fiji Airways’ transforma­tion over the last 10 years to be considered one of the leading commercial carriers in the world.

“To have a respected and widely followed aviation branding and innovation consultant select, Fiji Airways for a Special Edition, speaks volumes about the hard work that has been put into the airline for close to a decade,” Mr Prasad said.

The book was authored by Shashank Nigam, founder of SimpliFlyi­ng which is one of the world’s largest aviation marketing, branding, and communicat­ions consultanc­y firms.

Fiji Airways managing director and chief executive officer, Andre Viljoen said Mr Nigam was widely considered one of the most entertaini­ng and original speakers on the future of aviation, marketing, and sustainabi­lity.

“His expertise in the aviation industry has been recognised by several prestigiou­s organisati­ons. He has also widely featured in publicatio­ns such as The New York Times, CNN, and The Wall Street Journal.”

Three editions of SOAR have been published across the world, including two special editions on SAUDIA and WestJet.

Fiji Airways is the third Special Edition featured in chapter one of the book. Mr Nigam said the journey to feature Fiji Airways began when he caught a Fiji Airways flight from his home country, Vancouver, Canada just around Christmas over two years ago.

There was an issue of a lot of snow on the tarmac and all the flights were cancelled, as people slept at the airport.

“Then onboard Fiji Airways, we had the Bula smiles; that Bula spirit. There was something different about this airline and it was the first time I was on Fiji Airways,” Mr Nigam said.

A few months later, Mr Nigam heard Mr Viljoen speak at the aviation conference in Los Angeles.

“He did not talk about new planes. He did not talk about fuel efficiency. He did not talk about the typical airline CEO stuff. Instead, he starts talking about building leaders, Bula bubbles.

“That reinforced my belief of it. This is a story that needs to be captured. I walked up to Andre and said we need to talk and see if you can potentiall­y be featured in the next edition.”