[3] The first commercial flight as Fiji Airways was made in 1951 but the airline's origins date back to Katafaga Estates Ltd. formed in 1947.

The airline was founded by Australian aviator Harold Gatty who in 1931 had been the navigator on a record-breaking round-the-world flight with Wiley Post.

By 1966 Fiji Airways's shareholders included the governments of Tonga, Western Samoa, Nauru, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands.

[9][12] By 1968, Qantas, Air New Zealand, British Overseas Airways Corporation and the Fiji government held equal shareholdings.

[13] After Fiji gained independence from Great Britain in 1970, the new national government began buying shares and the airline was renamed Air Pacific to reflect its regional presence.

[10][12] In the 1970s, tourism became the nation's leading industry, which made the airline even more important to the Fijian economy; and in 1974 the government of Fiji began increasing its shareholding.

[17][18] In the 1990s the airline relocated its headquarters from the capital city of Suva to the coastal town of Nadi where the main international airport is located.

[19] In May 2012, Managing Director & CEO Dave Pflieger announced that the airline, which was completing a successful turnaround that included restructuring and re-fleeting, would be re-branded as "Fiji Airways" to help enhance sales and marketing of the airline and the south pacific island nation.

The name change aimed to associate the airline more closely with the nation and to be more visible in search results.

[24] The 2000 Fijian coup d'état devastated the country's tourism industry and overall economy, which led to a substantial decrease in travel to Fiji.

On 2 May 2019, Fiji Airways announced its intention to lease two Airbus A350-900 from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise as a part of their fleet expansion.

These A350 frames were originally to be delivered to Hong Kong Airlines, however following the cancellation of that order, they were purchased by Dubai Aerospace Enterprise.

[31] In partnership with Qantas, Air Pacific helped pioneer the concept of codeshare agreements in the early 1980s.

In the 1990s Air Pacific signed a codeshare agreement with Canadian Airlines, allowing it to transport traffic from Toronto on to Auckland, New Zealand.

[7] Qantas, which owned less than 20% of Air Pacific at the time, began a ten-year management contract with the airline in 1985 to help reverse the financial losses the company was struggling with.

[9] On 25 January 1995 Air Pacific and the then Royal Tongan Airlines began a joint leasing of aircraft.

[33] That same month, American Airlines announced that Fiji Airways would join its frequent-flyer program, AAdvantage, sometime within the ensuing year.

[34] In November of that year, the airline implemented a complimentary unlimited onboard Wi-Fi system for instant messaging across all classes.

The Air Pacific Group itself is owned by the Fijian government (51%), Fiji National Provident Fund (30%) the Australian flag-carrier Qantas (16%), and Air New Zealand and the governments of Kiribati, Tonga, Nauru and Samoa and the Unit Trust of Fiji each hold minor stakes.

[38][39] [40] After switching to a fiscal year that ends on 31 December, the airline reported profits for 9 months in 2013 of FJ$8.3 million.

In February 2018, it announced its exclusive airline sponsorship of Super Rugby champions, the BNZ Crusaders.