Repatriation flights

The Vanuatu government's approval of the repatriation schedule started at the beginning of May.

The Air Vanuatu team has coordinated with the Ministry of Health and Foreign Affairs and relies on partners who manage the approved traveller lists for Australia, New Caledonia, Fiji and New Zealand.

The government partners managing the approval to travel are; the Vanuatu High Commissions in Wellington, Suva and Noumea and The Pacific Labour Scheme in Australia.

The Vanuatu Government gave Air Vanuatu approval for the repatriation schedule starting this month.

Three flights bringing in a total of 101 passengers are scheduled to arrive in Port Vila today.

Two flights are from New Zealand and the third is from Noumea, New Caledonia.

A flight will arrive from New Zealand tomorrow with 100 seasonal workers on board.

One repatriation flight is scheduled to arrive from Noumea on Monday and another is scheduled to arrive in Port Vila from Brisbane on Tuesday.

Photo supplied 

The flight dates have been notified by the National COVID-19 Taskforce, said Chairman of the National Scholarship and Training Board (NSTB), Collin Natonga.

The repatriates are government sponsored students according to a Daily Post report.

It includes the 26 students who were supposed to return after competing studies at the end of this year’s first semester.

VT26 million(US$231,000) was spent on their allowance and accommodation while waiting for repatriation, said Natonga.

There are three scheduled repatriation flights before flights are suspended over the Christmas period.

The Vanuatu High Commission in New Zealand said it is working with authorities in Port Vila to secure extra flights to accommodate its nationals stranded in New Zealand, especially seasonal workers.

Repatriation flights from Auckland to Port Vila in August and September have been affected due to the suspension of flights. Flights resumed last month with two flights per month. 

PNG's National Pandemic Response Controller and Police Commissioner, David Manning, alleges India's High Commission in Port Moresby deliberately participated in a deception that resulted in the unauthorised arrivals.

Manning said India broke an agreement on how many passengers were approved for the repatriation flight.

According to him, the proposed repatriation flight from India had been rejected four times due to the risk of Covid-infected arrivals from India

A statement said the airline has sought the approval of the Solomon Islands Government and the relevant foreign governments.

The airline’s Airbus A320 aircraft, currently based in Brisbane, will first operate Flight IE614 from Honiara to Port Vila and Tongatapu departing at 8.00am from Henderson International Airport and arriving in Port Vila at 10.00am local time. Flight IE614 will then re-depart at 11.00am landing in Tongatapu at 3.25pm local time.

The announcement comes after its inbound repatriation services, which were supposed to start yesterday, were cancelled.

The delay was forced by the National Disaster Management Office which is in the process of checking the airline's compliance with COVID-19 safety protocols.

Air Vanuatu's outbound service today to New Caledonia will leave at midday as scheduled.

The flight is carrying passengers from Europe who will catch a connecting flight from Noumea to Japan from where they will fly to their respective home countries.

The airline made the decision after receiving information yesterday afternoon that any repatriation efforts will be coordinated through the COVID-19 advisory group.

Based on a meeting held by the National Disaster Advisory Committee on Monday, 10 August, the office of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vanuatu (CAAV) has indicated that all repatriation flights will be coordinated with Air Vanuatu once all Phase Two repatriation procedures are in place.

The airline has announced its international flight schedule to support the Government’s second repatriation phase of Vanuatu nationals and permanent residents.

“We are pleased to work with the Government of Vanuatu and other relevant agencies such as NDMO, the Vanuatu Public Health, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic partners to offer these much-needed flights,” said Joseph Laloyer, Air Vanuatu Acting Chief Executive Officer.

Jonathan Schwass said until recently there were 3700 ni-Vanuatu seasonal workers in New Zealand picking fruit and grapes and carrying out other horticultural work.

As the picking season ended, the RSE workers couldn't return home because of Covid-19 restrictions.

Mr Schwass said, in phase one, just over 1,000 workers were repatriated.

He said New Zealand Defence Force transport was organised because commercial options were not suitable.