Summary

  • Solomons Airlines to increase Vanuatu to Auckland flights due to demand.
  • Virgin Australia and Qantas have applied for seat capacity on the Australia-Vanuatu route.
  • Tourism in Vanuatu is set to benefit from the increased international connections.

As the people of the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu recover from the shock of their national airline being grounded, it seems they may end up with more international connections than they had before their airline went broke. Three airlines, Solomon Airlines, Virgin Australia and Qantas, have already signaled their intentions, while Fiji Airways and Air New Zealand appear to be keeping their options open.

A second Auckland flight this week

Solomon Airlines (Solomons) is the Solomon Islands’ flag carrier and a relatively near neighbor of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean. Solomons has an existing weekly connection that operates from its base at Honiara International Airport (HIR) to Vanuatu’s Port Vila Bauerfield International Airport (VLI) and then onwards to Auckland Airport (AKL) in New Zealand.

Solomon Airlines 3 A320

Photo: Solomon Airlines

Solomons commenced the nonstop flights from Vanuatu to Auckland on May 27 after Air Vanuatu went into voluntary liquidation. Solomons had previously operated the route on behalf of Air Vanuatu as part of a Pacific partnership and initially stepped in to help repatriate tourists, locals and seasonal workers stranded by the collapse of Air Vanuatu.

When Solomons took over the route in its own right, it said a second weekly service was anticipated to start on June 19, but in response to demand, that second service will now commence on June 12. The current Port Vila-Auckland service departs Monday at 17:50 and arrives at Auckland Airport at 22:05, while the extra service starting on Wednesday departs VLI at 17:25 and arrives in Auckland at 21:40.

Related

Air Vanuatu Cancels Flights And Enters Voluntary Liquidation

Once again, the sole Air Vanuatu Boeing 737 is grounded in Australia awaiting maintenance, but the airline is now in the hands of a liquidator.

Both of those services depart Auckland the following day at 12:00 and arrive in Vanuatu at 14:15, connecting to the Honiara flight that leaves at 15:15 and arrives in the Solomon Islands at 17:15. The route is operated with one of two Airbus A320-200s in the Solomons fleet, carrying registrations H4-SAL or H4-SIB.

Australian airlines chasing Vanuatu capacity

Vanuatu Department of Tourism Director Paul Pio welcomed the additional Solomon Airlines services from Port Vila to Auckland and said the Government remains committed to working with all interested airline partners to address its aviation connectivity challenges.

“New Zealand represents the second largest inbound tourism market to Vanuatu behind Australia, and this additional service will provide the much-needed confidence to our Kiwi travellers and trade partners, including the tourism business sector in Vanuatu.”

Related

Qantas And Virgin Australian Circle Drowning Air Vanuatu

It seems that Air Vanuatu may not get back in the air, so Virgin Australia and Qantas have already applied to send their aircraft to fill the void.

Sensing an opportunity, Virgin Australia and Qantas have filed applications with the Australian Government’s International Air Services Commission for seat capacity to Vanuatu. There are 3,120 seats of capacity available weekly to Australian airlines between Australia and Vanuatu, although that will soon be 100% utilized by Virgin Australia and the Qantas Group.

Virgin Australia vanuatu.travel-5700

Photo: Virgin Australia

Virgin Australia was already operating services between Brisbane and Port Vila, and it applied for a weekly allocation of 1,304 seats, which the Commission granted on May 28. The airline will use that capacity to operate an additional seven Boeing 737 services per week between Australia and Vanuatu starting in July 2024. The airline also said it would use the extra capacity to change aircraft configuration from 176 to 182 seats on the existing service on the Brisbane to Port Vila route.

Qantas and its wholly-owned subsidiary Jetstar applied for an allocation of 1,798 weekly seats, and the Commission has not yet ruled on that request. Qantas plans to operate a combination of Qantas 174-seat Boeing 737 aircraft and 97-seat Embraer E190 jets under a wet-lease arrangement with Alliance Airlines for up to five weekly services. Jetstar plans to operate up to four weekly services using 232-seat Airbus A321LR aircraft.

Have you flown with Virgin Australia to Vanuatu? Let us know in the comments.

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