Air Vanuatu

Last updated
Air Vanuatu
Air Vanuatu logo new.svg
IATA ICAO Callsign
NFAVNAIR VAN
Founded1981
Hubs Bauerfield International Airport
Frequent-flyer program Qantas Frequent Flyer
Fleet size6
Destinations37
Headquarters Air Vanuatu Head office, Bladiniere Estates
Port Vila, Vanuatu
Key peopleMr. Joseph Laloyer ([Acting] Chief Executive Officer), Capt. Andrew Carew (Executive Manager Flight Operations), Capt. Alexander Phillips (Training and Standards Manager)
Website www.airvanuatu.com
Air Vanuatu ATR 72 in 2024 Atr AV73.jpg
Air Vanuatu ATR 72 in 2024

Air Vanuatu is an airline with its head office in the Air Vanuatu House, Port Vila, Vanuatu. [1] It is Vanuatu's national flag carrier, operating to Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and points in the South Pacific. Its main base is Bauerfield International Airport, Port Vila. [2]

Contents

History

Boeing 737-800 YJ-AV1, Air Vanuatu's former flagship, at Auckland Airport in 2008 Another view of Air Vanuatu's 737-800 YJ-AV1, Auckland, April 2008.jpg
Boeing 737-800 YJ-AV1, Air Vanuatu's former flagship, at Auckland Airport in 2008
Air Vanuatu Harbin Y-12 Air Vanuatu (YJ-AV5) Harbin Y-12 IV at Bauerfield International Airport in Port Vila.jpg
Air Vanuatu Harbin Y-12

Air Vanuatu was established in early 1981 after Vanuatu gained independence from the United Kingdom and France the previous year. The assistance of Ansett Airlines was sought and a five-year agreement put in place for Ansett to provide aircraft and operating staff. [3] Ansett also took a 40% stake in the new airline, the government of Vanuatu holding the other 60%. [4] The first Air Vanuatu flight, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 owned and operated by Ansett, departed Sydney for Port Vila on 5 September 1981. [3] In May 1982 a Boeing 737-200 of Polynesian Airlines replaced the DC-9; this was replaced in turn by an Ansett 737-200 in October 1985. [5] In March 1986, the agreement with Ansett expired and was not renewed, this had the effect of grounding the airline. [3]

In 1987, the company was re-established with 100% ownership by the government of Vanuatu, [6] after a new commercial agreement was signed with Australian Airlines; weekly Sydney – Port Vila flights re-commenced on 19 December using a Boeing 727-200 chartered from Australian. [3] Air Vanuatu subsequently bought the aircraft in 1989 and leased it back to Australian for use on that airline's network on days that it was not used by Air Vanuatu. [7] In November 1992 the 727 was replaced by a Boeing 737-400 leased from Australian Airlines. [7] The following year an Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante was also leased from Australian, entering service that April to operate flights between Port Vila and Nouméa. [7] The leases on both aircraft continued after Australian was taken over by Qantas in October 1993, with the commercial agreement being rolled-over to Qantas as well. [7] Qantas is deeply involved in the airline's operations to this day; Air Vanuatu uses Qantas Frequent Flyer program, Qantas codeshares on Air Vanuatu's flights from Australia, and provides maintenance and pilot training services as well.

Air Vanuatu terminated the lease on the Qantas Boeing 737-400 after it took delivery of its own Boeing 737-300 in April 1997. [8] The same month Bandeirante services ceased when a Saab 2000 entered service. [8] The lease on the Saab 2000 was terminated in March 1999 and in June that year Air Vanuatu commenced using a de Havilland Canada Dash 8 of Vanuatu's government-owned domestic carrier Vanair on weekly services to Nouméa. [9] In April 2001 Air Vanuatu merged with Vanair, however the merger was reversed only five months later. [10] [11] In November 2003 an ATR 42 entered service for use on domestic routes in competition with Vanair. [12] In September 2004, Air Vanuatu again merged with Vanair. [2]

In January 2008, Air Vanuatu replaced its Boeing 737-300 with a new Boeing 737-800. [13] Three Harbin Y-12s were added to the fleet in early 2009 and in October the same year the airline took delivery of a new ATR 72–500 aircraft to replace its ATR 42. [14] Four days after the ATR 72 arrived at Port Vila the Board of Air Vanuatu was sacked and replaced by Directors General of various Vanuatu government ministries. [15] The ATR 72 made its first revenue flight for Air Vanuatu on 8 November 2009. [16] A second ATR 72–500 was delivered to the airline in November 2014. [17] In 2016 the Harbin Y-12s were phased out and replaced by de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters. [18]

In July 2020, Air Vanuatu announced a major set of changes for the airline due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the reshuffling of Orders and the shrinking and localization of the management team. During this, the CEO Derek Nice has stepped down, being temporarily replaced by Joseph Laloyer. Until a replacement can be found. This includes delaying the delivery of the 4 A220 Family aircraft they had on order. And a strategic review of their network. [19]

Destinations

Domestic

As of November 2009 Air Vanuatu operates 28 domestic routes throughout the country. [20]

Malampa
Penama
Shefa
Tafea
Torba
A former Air Vanuatu ATR 42 aircraft at Bauerfield International Airport, Port Vila. ATR 42 at Port Vila - Vanuatu.jpg
A former Air Vanuatu ATR 42 aircraft at Bauerfield International Airport, Port Vila.

International charter flights

Air Vanuatu Charter As of September 2020 Air Vanuatu commenced International Charter Flights to / from the following international destinations specialising in seasonal worker, company, diplomatic and freight charters throughout the Pacific Islands, South West Pacific, South East Asia, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. #airvanuatucharter :[ citation needed ]

CountryCityAirportNotesRef
Australia Adelaide Adelaide Airport
Australia Brisbane Brisbane Airport
Australia Cairns Cairns Airport
Australia Darwin Darwin Airport
Australia Hobart Hobart Airport
Australia Melbourne Melbourne Airport
Australia Newcastle Newcastle Airport
Australia Perth Perth Airport
Australia Sydney Sydney Airport
China Sanya Sanya Phoenix International Airport
Fiji Nadi Nadi International Airport
Kiribati Kiritimati Cassidy International Airport
Kiribati Tarawa Bonriki International Airport
New Caledonia, France Nouméa La Tontouta International Airport
New Zealand Auckland Auckland Airport
New Zealand Christchurch Christchurch Airport
Papua New Guinea Port Moresby Jacksons International Airport
Samoa Apia Faleolo International Airport
Solomon Islands Honiara Honiara International Airport
Tonga Nukuʻalofa Fuaʻamotu International Airport
Tuvalu Funafuti Funafuti International Airport
United States San Francisco San Francisco International Airport
Vanuatu Luganville Santo-Pekoa International Airport
Vanuatu Port Vila Bauerfield International Airport

International scheduled

Air Vanuatu Boeing 737-300 at Sydney Airport. This aircraft left the fleet in 2008. Air Vanuatu Boeing 737-300 SYD Monty-1.jpg
Air Vanuatu Boeing 737-300 at Sydney Airport. This aircraft left the fleet in 2008.

As of January 2023 [21] Air Vanuatu operates to the following international destinations:

CountryCityAirportNotesRef
AustraliaBrisbane Brisbane Airport [22]
AustraliaMelbourne Melbourne Airport [22]
AustraliaSydney Sydney Airport [22]
FijiNadi Nadi International Airport
New CaledoniaNouméa La Tontouta International Airport
New ZealandAuckland Auckland Airport
VanuatuLuganville Santo-Pekoa International Airport
VanuatuPort Vila Bauerfield International Airport

Codeshare agreements

Air Vanuatu has codeshare agreements with the following airlines: [23]

Fleet

As of June 2022, the Air Vanuatu fleet consists of the following aircraft: [24]

AircraftIn serviceOrdersPassengersNotes
JYTotal
ATR 72-600 11—7070 [25]
Boeing 737-800 118162170 [25]
Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander 1——99
de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter 22—1919 [25]
Total54

Incidents and accidents

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Contact Us." Air Vanuatu. Retrieved on 22 June 2010. "Air Rue de Paris Port Vila, Vanuatu"
  2. 1 2 Flight International 27 March 2007
  3. 1 2 3 4 Reid, Gordon. "1988 Major Airline Directory", Australian Aviation magazine, No. 44, May/June 1988, p40. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd., Weston Creek ACT. ISSN 0813-0876
  4. ↑ "World airline directory", Flight International 3 April 1982, p815 (online archive version), retrieved 18 November 2009
  5. ↑ Reid, Gordon. "1986 Major Airline Directory", Australian Aviation magazine, No. 33, July/August 1986, p39. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd., Weston Creek ACT. ISSN 0813-0876
  6. ↑ "World Airline Directory", Flight International 1 April 1989, p55 (online archive version), retrieved 18 November 2009
  7. 1 2 3 4 Reid, Gordon. "Major Airline Directory", Australian Aviation magazine, No. 96, May 1994, p75. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd., Weston Creek ACT. ISSN 0813-0876
  8. 1 2 Reid, Gordon. "Major Airline Directory", Australian Aviation magazine, No. 150, May 1999, p50. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd., Weston Creek ACT. ISSN 0813-0876
  9. ↑ Reid, Gordon. "Major Airline Directory", Australian Aviation magazine, No. 161, May 2000, p56. Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd., Weston Creek ACT. ISSN 0813-0876
  10. ↑ "Vanuatu industry: Air Vanuatu merges with bankrupt domestic carrier" retrieved 18 November 2009
  11. ↑ "Air Vanuatu & Vanair Demerge" Archived 2012-07-31 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 18 November 2009
  12. ↑ Flight International, 18–24 November 2003, p.15
  13. ↑ "New Air Van CEO" – Vanuatu Daily Post Online [ permanent dead link ] retrieved 16 November 2009
  14. ↑ "Air Vanuatu takes delivery of new ATR 72–500" – ATR Media Release [ permanent dead link ] retrieved 16 November 2009
  15. ↑ Willie, Royson. "Opposition says high salaries part of Air Vanuatu problems" – Vanuatu Daily Post Online Archived 2009-11-07 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 13 November 2009
  16. ↑ Garae, Len. "ATR-72, a touch of international class" – Vanuatu Daily Post Online [ permanent dead link ] retrieved 13 November 2009
  17. ↑ "Second ATR for Air Vanuatu". Airliner World: 17. January 2015.
  18. ↑ "Air Vanuatu improves fleet" – Radio New Zealand International retrieved 15 October 2015
  19. ↑ "Air Vanuatu Delays A220 Deliveries As New CEO Takes the reins" – Simple Flying retrieved 8 July 2020
  20. ↑ "Air Vanuatu Domestic Fares Matrix" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-02-26. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  21. ↑ "Air Vanuatu route map". Air Vanuatu. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  22. 1 2 3 Debrief Australian Aviation March 2019 page 12
  23. ↑ "Profile on Air Vanuatu". CAPA. Centre for Aviation. Archived from the original on 2016-11-02. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  24. ↑ Taylor, Ellis (2019-02-26). "Air Vanuatu orders four A220s". Flightglobal.com. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  25. 1 2 3 IB, Reporter (2022-06-15). "Air Vanuatu to focus on domestic fleet expansion". Islands Business. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  26. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Britten-Norman BN-2A-6 Islander YJ-RV4 Olpoi".
  27. ↑ "Vanuatu plane crash injured flown to Brisbane". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2008-12-22. Retrieved 22 December 2008.
  28. ↑ "Crash: Air Vanuatu BN2P near Olpoi on Dec 19th 2008". The Aviation Herald. Salzburg. 2008-12-21. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
  29. ↑ "Few details on cause of fatal plane crash in Vanuatu". Radio New Zealand. 2008-12-22. Retrieved 22 December 2008.
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