THE more tourists we can get here, the cheaper we can make it for everybody, says Solomon Airlines new Chief Executive Officer, Brett Gerbers.

Mr Gerbers said at the moment, Solomon Airlines can’t make the airfares cheaper because it can’t cover the cost.

“If we can increase the number of people that come here, the cheaper the airfares we can make for everybody.

“But this involves tourism bodies and everybody in the Solomon Islands to work together,” Mr Gerbers said in an interview this week.

He was responding to a question by the paper following reports that tourists prefer visiting other Pacific neighbour states rather than to the Solomons because of expensive airfares.

“If it costs me $10,000 an hour to fly, and if the airline puts 40 people on that flight for two hours, I am going to divide the cost of $20,000 between the 40 people.

“If I can fill the air plane then I will have the opportunity of bringing the cost down, but that means that air plane needs to be filled all the time,” Mr Gerbers illustrates

He said if the airline can continuously increase the number of people flying to Solomons because people really want to visit, the airline must do enough then the airfares can become cheaper.

“The only way that Virgin Airways can charge their fares is because of the number of passengers that they have onboard their aircrafts.

“If you have a very limited number and you try to provide a service, limited people going to pay,” he further explains.

He said if visitors enjoyed their time while in the country, they will return and convey the best of Solomon Islands to their friends and families.

“That is what Fiji is generating, the Fijian people are unbelievably nice, let you have a fantastic holiday, and we want to do the same for the Solomons.

“If we can do that for Solomons we can have flights every day to and from Brisbane and Sydney, we got a lot of people coming in here then the airlines become more efficient.

“At the end of the day the country must have infrastructure to support this,” said Mr Gerbers.

But he said whilst the national carrier has only one international aircraft, the airfare will remain as it is.