VANUATU: commercial flights getween Australia and Port Vila reopen

The Airport at Port Vila, Vanuatu’s capital, has reopened to commercial flights from Sunday, 22 December. The airport has only been able to handle emergency flights since last Tuesday’s magnitude 7.3 earthquake. The quake resulted in 16 deaths and injured over 200 people. It also caused extensive damage to the city and surrounding areas, including the airport.

Evacuation and commercial flights

The RAAF has been running aid and evacuation flights from Port Villa, returning hundreds of Australians to Brisbane.

Since last Wednesday, the day after the earthquake, 568 tourists, workers, and others have returned to Australia.

Port Vila International Airport is open for commercial airline flights as of Sunday. This should allow an increasing number of flights to offer aid to the stricken population.

The Australian government is working with several Australian-based airlines, including Qantas, Virgin, and Jetstar, to resume flights to Port Vila.

Commercial flights

Qantas and Virgin both operated Port Vila-Brisbane services prior to the earthquake. They are expected to resume services from Sunday, and Jetstar will return to the route on Monday.

The Australian Defence Forces likely operated the last two evacuation flights from Vanuatu on Sunday.

Further quakes

The area suffered a series of aftershocks over the following days after the initial quake. This included a 6.1-magnitude quake at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday. The quake struck 30km west of the capital, Port Vila.

2PAXfly Takeout

Authorities have been encouraging tourists to still travel to the island, as this is the high season for the holiday industry. Losing tourist income would be a double whammy for locals.

On the other hand, a potential health crisis lies on the horizon, as aid workers estimate that about 20,000 people on the island cannot currently access clean water.

If you are booked to travel to Vanuatu, you have a difficult decision to make. Your trip may be subject to some of the practical realities of the earthquake’s aftermath. On the other hand, your tourist dollars will help to support recovery on the island nation.

Consult your airline, hotel or other travel specialist before you go. Check in with the Smartraveller website, which advises travellers to exercise normal safety precautions as of today, 23 December 2024.