In October 1990, Niue Airlines flew twenty-three pupils (and their parents and teachers) to the island after discovering it had 40 vacant seats on a flight. The group from Three Kings Primary School in Auckland, whose travel was arranged at no cost, was greeted with garlands of flowers, appeared on local television, had a short swim in the ocean and were then farewelled by Premier Sir
Robert Rex after a whirlwind trip. In 1991, services were operated from Auckland to Niue, and returned via
Tonga. Towards the end of the airline's life, services were only operated between
Pago Pago and Niue using a nine-seat
Beechcraft King Air. Travelling from Auckland to Niue then required stopovers in
Apia and Pago Pago. The airline ceased to operate in late 1992, when, after the Niuean government refused to provide bank guarantees for the purchase of aviation fuel, they defaulted on a fuel bill and their licence was cancelled. ==See also==