In 2005,
Virgin Blue Holdings signed an agreement with the
Government of Samoa to operate a
joint venture airline. The announcement came after several months of detailed discussions between the two parties and involved the Samoan government and Virgin Blue joining forces to set up a new company to operate jet routes previously flown by
Polynesian Airlines. The name
Polynesian Blue was adopted in keeping with the Virgin Blue family of brands, which also included
Christchurch based
Pacific Blue Airlines. Its first flight was on 31 October 2005, between
Apia,
Auckland and
Sydney.
Pacific Blue Airlines changed its ICAO code from PBI to PBN to prevent air traffic controllers from confusing the I for a 1 in flight plans. This also applies to Virgin Samoa flights operated by
Virgin Australia. The ICAO code PLB (call sign: POLYBLUE) is currently reserved for the airline but not in use. Virgin Blue Holdings rebranded its airlines under the new Virgin Australia name in 2011, later renaming itself Virgin Australia Holdings. Polynesian Blue was rebranded Virgin Samoa and a new livery was unveiled for one of the
Boeing 737-800s operated by Virgin Australia (NZ) - which features traditional Samoan tattoos on the engines, designed by Tuifa’asisina Tolouena Sua. Cabin crew uniforms were also redesigned to feature the new imagery. In 2015, Virgin Australia decided to relinquish its New Zealand Air Operators Certificate, with all New Zealand-registered aircraft, including the Virgin Samoa-branded aircraft, transferred to the Australian register. In May 2017, the
Prime Minister of Samoa,
Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, wrote to Virgin Australia advising of the government's intention to withdraw from the joint venture. This followed two years of the government's unhappiness that Samoan customers and government were not obtaining enough of the benefits from the joint venture. Virgin Australia later confirmed that services would cease on 12 November 2017. The government proposes
Polynesian Airlines resume operating long-distance flights while Virgin Australia commenced operating services to Samoa on 13 November 2017 in its own right. ==Destinations==