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Virgin Australia has been awarded an extra 1,304 seats per week between Australia and Vanuatu in the wake of Air Vanuatu’s collapse.
The International Air Services Commission (IASC) has greenlit the airline’s expansion of its Vanuatu services, which will allow it to operate an extra seven flights per week using its 737 fleet and go from 176 to 182 seats on its reconfigured planes.
Virgin will have the extra capacity for five years from 28 May 2024 and will be required to fully utilise it by no later than 31 December.
“The Commission notes that Virgin Australia is an established international carrier which currently operates scheduled international services between Australia and Vanuatu,” IASC chair Genevieve Butler and commissioner Jane McKeon wrote in their determination.
“The Commission therefore finds that Virgin Australia is reasonably capable of obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals to operate on the route and of using the proposed capacity allocation.”
Virgin Australia has already boosted its Vanuatu services from twice to five times per week from Brisbane to Port Vila for the remainder of May and June at the request of the Australian government.
Air Vanuatu, a codeshare partner of Qantas, entered voluntary liquidation earlier this month, with liquidator Ernst & Young saying it hopes to resume services.
Virgin is therefore currently the only airline operating flights between Australia and Vanuatu and has welcomed the determination, with plans now underway to further ramp up Vanuatu operations.
The news comes soon after Virgin’s main rival Qantas applied to the IASC to move in on the Vanuatu market. The Flying Kangaroo has asked for 1,798 seats per week in each direction for five years, with plans to start Qantas services in August and Jetstar services in October.
“From August 2024, Qantas plans to operate services utilising a combination of Qantas’ Boeing 737 aircraft configured with 174 seats and Embraer E190 aircraft configured with 97 seats under a wet lease arrangement with Alliance Airlines,” Anna Pritchard, Qantas’ executive manager of government, industry and competition, wrote to the IASC.
“During periods of peak demand, Qantas plans to operate up to five weekly services using the Boeing 737. From October 2024, Jetstar plans to operate up to four weekly services using Airbus A321 NEO aircraft configured with 232 seats.”
Before suspending services, Air Vanuatu codeshared with Qantas on daily flights from Sydney to Port Vila, four flights per week from Brisbane to Port Vila, and three flights per week from Melbourne to Port Vila, as well as weekly services from Brisbane to Santo operated for Air Vanuatu by Solomon Airlines.
