Air Vanuatu will resume flights to Australia from 1 July 2022, with the nation of Vanuatu also reopening its border to tourists on the same date – just in time for the next school holidays! Vaccinated visitors to Vanuatu will not be required to quarantine from this date.
From July, Air Vanuatu will operate 5x weekly flights from Sydney to Port Vila using its Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The airline will also fly 3x weekly from Brisbane-Port Vila and once per week between Melbourne and Port Vila.
Air Vanuatu is also resuming 2x weekly Auckland-Port Vila flights from the same date.
The airline has not operated regular flights to Australia since March 2020.
Air Vanuatu operates just one jet aircraft and a small number of ATR72 turboprop planes. It has new Airbus A220s on order, but their delivery has been delayed by the pandemic.
“The reopening of Vanuatu to international leisure travellers from 1 July is a major milestone we have been looking forward to and it will be great to see Australian travellers return to Vanuatu,” Air Vanuatu CEO Atu Finau said.
“Flying with Air Vanuatu means passengers enjoy a warm Vanuatu welcome from the moment passengers step onboard and we are delighted to recommence our services from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne from July.”
Tickets went on sale today.
Qantas Frequent Flyer benefits with Air Vanuatu
Air Vanuatu is a Qantas Frequent Flyer partner airline. Qantas also codeshares on Air Vanuatu flights between Australia and Port Vila.
When booking Air Vanuatu marketed flights on an “NF” flight number, you can earn Qantas points – but not status credits.
By booking a Qantas codeshare with a “QF” flight number, you can earn a higher number of points, status credits, and access Qantas Frequent Flyer status tier benefits such as Qantas international lounge access when you depart Australia.
Theoretically, it’s also possible to redeem Qantas Frequent Flyer points for Classic Reward seats on Air Vanuatu. However, it appears at the time of writing that Air Vanuatu has not yet released any award availability on its flights to/from Australia.
Will Virgin Australia return to Vanuatu?
Before the pandemic, Virgin Australia also served the Brisbane-Port Vila route using Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Virgin has not officially listed Port Vila as a “withdrawn” international destination, meaning it still has an intention of resuming flights to Vanuatu at some point. However, there are currently no Virgin Australia flights scheduled to Port Vila.
Virgin Australia’s only current international destination is Nadi, Fiji. The airline is also currently selling tickets to Denpasar and Queenstown, but not to any other overseas airports.
You can leave a comment or discuss this topic on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum.
