A fascinating insight into a side of Fiji that is very rarely seen. It is the story of a 'local European' growing up in a depressed suburb of Fiji's capital, Suva during the dying days of Colonial rule, attending local schools, and living a free and open life.It looks at Independence though those eyes, speaks of the political adolescence post-independence, of the 2007 military coups, and of the national rebuilding thereafter.The author was Fiji's first aircraft engineering apprentice, one of the first locals licensed to certify aircraft, and spent 10 years travelling throughout the Pacific during a period of pioneering aviation. He became CEO of Fiji's Blue Lagoon Cruises, built three ships for them, and grew that company to become an icon of Fiji's tourism industry.He returned to Fiji Airways (then Air Pacific) as its CEO at the time of the 2007 military coups. The airline had the largest accumulated losses in the history of Fiji, and its mainstay of tourism was hanging by a thread. He retired the debt and created the profitable international airline it is today. This book tells of things accomplished in difficult political times, the complexity of Fiji's society, of the things that shaped Fiji's history in the final half of the last century, and of the central role the author played as the country rebuilt itself post the 2007 coups. Talk about minorities - local Europeans in Fiji; now that's a real minority - and here is Fiji seen from that perspective
- | Author: Andrew Drysdale
- | Publisher: Mentor Aviation Services
- | Publication Date: October 19, 2019
- | Number of Pages: 384 pages
- | Language: English
- | Binding: Paperback
- | ISBN-10: 0646800264
- | ISBN-13: 9780646800264
- Author:
- Andrew Drysdale
- Publisher:
- Mentor Aviation Services
- Publication Date:
- October 19, 2019
- Number of pages:
- 384 pages
- Language:
- English
- Binding:
- Paperback
- ISBN-10:
- 0646800264
- ISBN-13:
- 9780646800264