Atiu Island. Cook Island. Polynesia. South Pacific Ocean. The pilot plane of Air Rarotonga poses with the aircraft. Air Rarotonga is the company leader in flights between the islands. Air Rarotonga is an airline based in Rarotonga, Cook Islands and is ‘the airline of the Cook Islands’. It operates inter-island scheduled services throughout the Cook Islands. It also operates chartered flights to French Polynesia, Niue, Samoa and Tonga. Its main base is Rarotonga International Airport. The airline was established in February 1978 and started operations in July 1978 with a Cessna 337 aircraft. The company is owned by three private investors. More than 70,000 passengers travel between its island destinations each year. The airline codeshares with Air Tahiti on flights between Rarotonga and Tahiti with Air Tahiti being the operator. The airline also offers scenic flights over Rarotonga and air charter services to neighbouring Pacific Island countries including Tahiti, Niue, Tonga and Samoa. The airline also operates Air Ambulance evacuations from all island airports in the Cook Islands when needed. In February 2012, the airline received 2 more Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante aircraft. One of which was added to the fleet and began operating in January 2013, while the other will be added later in 2013.