INDUSTRY UPDATE
Released: 15 February 2024
Boeing Aircraft Maintenance Schedule Extended
In line with industry updates shared early in January, our Boeing 737 aircraft commenced scheduled maintenance on the 15th of January in Australia. At that time, we anticipated that this service may be completed within four weeks. Therefore, Air Vanuatu contracted for our partners Solomon and Nauru Airlines to operate all flights on the international schedule for four weeks. This plan meant there would be no impact on guests and the industry, while the aircraft was undergoing this scheduled maintenance.
The maintenance service provider has now notified Air Vanuatu that the timeline for completion has been extended due to parts that require sourcing that are not readily available in Australia, and required looking to Europe, Asia and North America for suppliers. The challenge of sourcing parts is faced by many other airlines within the region, making it difficult to source parts from our partners within Australia or New Zealand. The new estimated completion timeline would return the Boeing to service no sooner than mid-March at the earliest.
We have reached out to our airline partners who will continue to assist, however, they are not able to service all international flights in this extended timeframe. With Air Vanuatu owning only one such Boeing aircraft, this means that we have no option other than to make changes to the international flight schedule up to Thursday 29th February. All efforts are being made to reduce schedule changes to only those flights where there are no other options.
Initial changes that we can confirm at this time include the following flights/dates:
- Saturday 17th February – NF50&51 to/from Port Vila/Auckland will be cancelled, and guests rebooked on flights the following Monday, Tuesday Wednesday and Saturday.
- Sunday 18th February – NF10/11 to/from Port Vila/Sydney will be cancelled, and guests will have the option of travelling via Brisbane.
- Monday 19th February – NF10 Port Vila to Sydney will be cancelled and passengers re-booked on flights via Brisbane or can opt to travel on Wednesday 21st.
- Wednesday 21st February - NF11 Sydney to Port Vila will be cancelled and passengers re-booked on flights via Brisbane on Thurs 22nd or direct Friday 23rd.
Discussions with our partners are ongoing as they also have crew and operational constraints and changes to flights also require obtaining flight landing approvals with the various international airports. As soon as further information is available on any flight that is changed or affected, we will post details on the following page: https://www.airvanuatu.com/travel-advisory/flight-schedule-changes
We understand this is not optimal and will impact our industry. We will continue to do all we can to minimize impacts, and to keep you regularly informed as the situation evolves.
We thank you for your understanding.
Contact:
[email protected]