American Samoa's governor, Lolo Matalasi Moliga, says for tourism to develop the federal cabotage law must be waived.
Photo: RNZI / Monica Miller
Cabotage rules prevent foreign carriers from operating between two US airports.
Over the years American Samoa has been pushing for a waiver to allow foreigner carriers such as Fiji Airways or Air New Zealand to fly in and out of Pago Pago to Honolulu or Los Angeles.
Lolo told the Legislature that unless the US Congress exempts American Samoa from the federal cabotage law, any large amount of money spend on promoting the territory overseas will not make a great difference.
The Samoa government-owned Polynesian Airlines has been operating the territory's domestic flights since 2014 under 30-day waivers issued by the US Department of Transportation.
