A power failure at Fuʻamotu International Airport in Tonga early this month has delayed hundreds of travellers who were about to leave for New Zealand and Australia.
The flight was still able to take off but queue for departure was growing in the terminal and passengers were complaining.
Power was eventually restored in less than half an hour.
Tonga Airport Ltd (TAL) manager Viliami Maʻake said the problem was immediately addressed.
“For some reason the back-up generator did not start and technical staffs later identified that the fault was due to a faulty part which has now been fixed”, Maʻake said.
He said: “The airport terminal runs primarily on the main power supply from Tonga Power and a back-up power supply provided by the TAL that takes over whenever there is a main power failure and this has happened from time to time”.
The incident happened on February 9 after the main power failed to operate at 8.37pm but was shortly fixed and operations at the airport returned to normal at 9pm.
