Hours after Solomon Airlines announced its direct flights from Brisbane to Vanuatu’s Espiritu Santo, Qantas and Jetstar also jumped onboard, announcing nine return flights each week.
Solomon Airlines will commence a weekly direct flight from Brisbane to Vanuatu’s Espiritu Santo island from Thursday 4 July, with the 2-hour 50-minute non-stop service reopening an important direct route between Australia and Vanuatu, via the Brisbane gateway.
This follows the collapse of Air Vanuatu which filed for insolvency last month, cancelling flights to and from Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland.
“The news of greater connectivity to Vanuatu, thanks to Solomon Airlines, will be widely celebrated by the tourism industry here in Vanuatu, especially our industry partners in Santo,” Vanuatu Tourism Office CEO, Adela Issachar Aru, said.
“The direct weekly service to Santo from Brisbane is a welcome development in re-establishing our aviation connectivity. We have always had a strong partnership with Solomon Airlines and are thrilled to continue working with them.”
Qantas International CEO, Cam Wallace said the new route would help meet continued demand for travel between Australia and Vanuatu.
“We’re thrilled to offer our customers direct flights between Brisbane and Vanuatu and build on this important route which will maintain essential connectivity for leisure and business travel.
“We’ve long served Vanuatu through our codeshare partnership and this new route ensures our customers have more choice and consistent service to the island destination we know they enjoy.”
Vanuatu a new destination for Jetstar
Jetstar Group CEO, Stephanie Tully said Vanuatu is a new destination for Jetstar.
“Ahead of the arrival of our 13th A321neo LR next month and more new aircraft on the way, we’re continuing to grow our international network with the launch of low fares seats between Sydney and Port Vila,” she said.
“We’re excited to be able to offer more Australians great value holiday options to one of our nearest and most beautiful pacific island destinations.”
Starting on 10 September 2024*, Qantas will fly three times a week between Brisbane and Port Vila, with the ability to increase to five per week based on demand. Jetstar will offer up to four weekly flights between Sydney and Port Vila from 12 December 2024*. (*Subject to Government approval)
The new flights will create more than 150,000 new seats each year between Australia and Vanuatu. Qantas will launch its new flights with its Boeing 737 aircraft while Jetstar will use its growing fleet of Airbus A321neo LRs.
Espiritu Santo, in Vanuatu’s northern islands, is the country’s largest island and one of its most popular international holiday destinations. The Solomon Airlines service will provide a direct route for passengers and air freight including Australian leisure travellers, Solomon Airlines said the non-stop service from Brisbane to Espiritu Santo, is a welcome addition to the airline’s growing Pacific network and Vanuatu schedule.
“Espiritu Santo is a magical location for holidaymakers to lose themselves amongst the blue holes, world famous beaches, dive sites, kastom and culture of the island. Santo is as laid back as you can get and a great place to escape for you winter break,” Vanuatu Tourism Office’s Aru, said.
Solomon Airlines flights departing Brisbane
- Monday and Wednesday: Brisbane-Honiara-Port Vila
- Thursday: Brisbane-Espiritu Santo
Departing Vanuatu
- Tuesday and Thursday: Port Vila-Honiara-Brisbane
- Thursday: Espiritu Santo-Port Vila-Brisbane
Solomon Airlines non-stop flights between Brisbane and Espiritu Santo will depart every Thursday from 4 July, as Flight IE726 at 9.00am, arriving in Santo Pekoa International Airport at 12.50pm local time.
Return services from Santo will operate on Thursdays as Flight IE726 departing Santo at 1.50pm arriving
Port Vila at 2.35pm, departing Port Vila as Flight IE718 at 3.35pm arriving in Brisbane at 5.40pm.
Feature image: Ratua – David Kirkland
