Some airlines to continue to fly into Port Vila

Solomon Airlines has announced it will continue to fly in and out of the international airport at Port Vila as normal.

Air New Zealand has stopped flying to Bauerfield because of concerns over the state of the runway although Virgin, Air Vanuatu and Fiji Airways say they will continue to operate.

Solomon Airlines' Gus Kraus says the airline has conducted a review of the runway and concluded conditions were safe for its Airbus A320 to fly in and out..

He says the airline will continue to monitor the situation and has urged the authorities in Port Vila to take the necessary steps to upgrade the runway.

"We are working very closely with our Melanesian aviation colleagues and codeshare partner Air Vanuatu in Port Vila and have also received information from the Director of Civil Aviation in Vila that gives us some comfort in our decision although we will continue to monitor the situation and act on any changed circumstances."

The chairman of the Hotel and Resorts Association in Vanuatu Bryan Death says Air New Zealand's suspension of flights into the country is a blow for tourism because of the negative publicity it has created.

But Mr Death says the impact is minimal because it is not yet the high season and Air New Zealand is only running one flight a week.

He says operators have been receiving cancellations but they are advising tourists to rebook on other airlines which are still operating.

He says the aviation authorities in Vanuatu are working hard to make the runway safe.

Mr Death says he understands it could take at least another two months for an immediate fix to the runway and a full overlay completed this year.

"If we can get the works done that need to be done to get Air New Zealand back up here to sign off on the runway and we can do that while there's only the one flight a week process happening then we can mitigate the damage."

Mr Death says Air New Zealand's promotions and hot pricing have helped to push the New Zealand market share up to about 18 percent of total visitors to Vanuatu.

 

     

Author: 
Radio New Zealand International