Nauru Airlines is considering adding a second freighter to its current sole B737-300(F) to cater to growing demand for imports on the tiny island nation in Micronesia.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Geoff Bowmaker, told the Courrier Mail in an interview: “We carry a lot of cargo. Nauru produces nothing so everything has to be imported”.
The South Pacific island's troubled economy, with an unemployment rate of 90%, has a negative trade balance of USD80.5 million in net imports. Prefabricated building parts constitute the bulk of its import basket followed by cars, processed foodstuffs, and consumer electronics.
For its part, Nauru Airlines boasts a fleet of seven aircraft, including six B737-300s, used on scheduled passenger flights to Australia, the Solomon Islands, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Fiji, and Kiribati.
Last year it launched a new Micronesian Island Hopper service connecting the islands of Pohnpei and Kosrae to Majuro, Tarawa and Nauru