Air Vanuatu plane to remain grounded, stranded passengers told they could be stuck until at least the weekend

Air Vanuatu plane to remain grounded, stranded passengers told they could be stuck until at least the weekend

Air Vanuatu has released a statement saying it “regrets to advise that all flights on its Australia and New Zealand routes are cancelled up to and including Friday, 7 April.”

The Boeing 737 Aircraft that services the airline’s Australia and New Zealand routes is grounded in Australia, awaiting necessary mechanical parts. The airline is working closely with Boeing offices in the United States and Australia to source these urgently. Until these parts are sourced, there will be delays to operations.

Air Vanuatu has secured support from other Pacific airlines to operate a handful of flights this week to help Australian and New Zealand guests in Port Vila return home. These have been fully ticketed, and the airline is working to confirm additional services as quickly as possible.

At present, guests who are yet to travel with Air Vanuatu will be unable to do so until the weekend. Agents and their clients are advised to check the Travel Advisory page on the airline’s website for up-to-date information and scheduling – www.airvanuatu.com/travel-info/travel-advisories/flight-cancellation-advisory.

A fully flexible change policy is in place, as well as a full refund policy for guests who no longer wish to travel. The airline has advised guests to contact their ticketing agent regarding their booking or to get in touch directly if they booked online or with Air Vanuatu.

Greg Wilson, Chief Commercial Officer, Air Vanuatu, has expressed the airline’s sincere apologies for the disruption to services, particularly at this busy time.

“We are deeply sorry for the disruption, and we appreciate the frustration this has caused and continues to cause our guests, especially around the Easter and school holidays travel period. This event was unforeseen, and we are working our hardest to accommodate guests in Port Vila to return home and to get holidaymakers rescheduled on other services so they can enjoy their planned Vanuatu adventure.”

We will share further updates via our website as they are known, and hope to announce the resumption of services as soon as we can.”

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