Tonga's Director of Civil Aviation says the kingdom is only weeks away from having another dedicated air link to Fiji.
Viliami Ma'ake has told Radio Tonga that several applications are being studied and an airline linking Tonga with Suva will be designated before Christmas.
He has declined to name the interested airlines.
Fiji Air provided a service until it was stopped by the Fiji government because it breached the Fiji-Tonga air services agreement.
Mr Ma'ake says Tonga wants to liberalise the agreement to allow a Tongan designated airline to fly to other destinations via Fiji.
