Suspension of international flights to Vanuatu
Vanuatu airport and aviation authorities are scrambling after a decision by Air New Zealand to suspend flights to the country.
Transcript
Vanuatu airport and aviation authorities are scrambling after a decision by Air New Zealand to suspend flights to the country.
Vanuatu was holding a general election on Friday when Air New Zealand announced it would stop flying to the capital Port Vila because of concerns over the safety of the runway at Bauerfield airport.
This prompted Qantas to immediately follow suit.
Johnny Blades reports.
Vanuatu aviation and airport authorities say they had no warning about Air New Zealand's decision to suspend flights. Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades
"To get the airport authority to be sweeping each day and then having the foreign object debris that has been swept off the runway weight, and then ports of Vanuatu and Air Vanuatu signing off on the sweeping, verifying it has been done, the pilots verifying it has been done before they take off each day. That's particularly for all the engine aircraft that use the runway at Bauerfield."
Air New Zealand is tight lipped about the decision, saying it has moved as quickly as possible to respond to the safety issue.
However, some regional airlines continue to fly to Vila.
Fiji Airways says it has accepted assurances of safety from Vanuatu for its turboprop landings.
Solomon Airlines' Operations Manager Gus Kraus says the airline is in discussions with Vanuatu authorities as well as its regional partners, Air Vanuatu and Air Niugini.
"About whether we will take the full action that Air New Zealand has, or we will try to seek mitigating the extenuation of the current problems on the runway. So we are still in discussions, there's no decisions made. Our next service to Vanuatu is next Saturday so we'll come up with a conclusive decision by then and we'll make sure that it's in the media."
Vanuatu relies on tourism, and a halt to intake from Australia and New Zealand could have devastating consequences for the economy.
A leading Vanuatu politician says runway problems at Port Vila's airport could have already been fixed if the last government had not pulled out of a deal with the World Bank.
Joe Natuman, who was ousted as prime minister by Sato Kilman last year, says Mr Kilman scrapped the deal with the World Bank in favour of a Shanghai-based consortium that hasn't eventuated.
"We had already agreed on those, [but] when this new government went in they changed the plan and they wanted to get the Chinese to do it, and that disturbed the World Bank, otherwise it would have already started. So this is one of the things we need to sort out when a new government goes into office."
The World Bank deal is reportedly still on the table, and depending on which group forms government in Vanuatu, the parliament will likely make addressing the runway problem an urgent issue when it convenes in two weeks.
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