Qantas and Jetstar could soon fly to Vanuatu after the International Air Services Commission (IASC) green-lit their application to commence services to the island nation.
In its determination, the IASC said it would conditionally allocate the Qantas Group 1,798 weekly seats for Vanuatu flights.
Valid for five years, the decision means any Qantas Group airline can start flying between Sydney, Melbourne (including Avalon), Brisbane and/or Perth and Vanuatu.
The news comes six weeks after Air Vanuatu went into voluntary administration, stranding hundreds of travellers in Vanuatu.
In its original application dated 21 May 2024, Qantas stated that from August 2024, “it plans to operate services utilising a combination of Boeing 737 aircraft configured with 174 seats and Embraer E190 aircraft configured with 97 seats under a wet-lease arrangement with Alliance Airlines”.
“During periods of peak demand, Qantas plans to operate up to five weekly services using the Boeing 737,” it stated.
However, on 5 June it pushed back the start date to 10 September “due to operational assessments undertaken since its original application”.
In its amendment, Qantas said it would operate up to “three services per week between Brisbane and Port Vila using B737 aircraft configured with 174 seats, with plans to increase up to five services during periods of peak demand in Northern Winter 2024 (December/January)”.
Under the Alliance arrangement, Qantas plans to fly “up to daily services using the Embraer E190 configured with 97 seats” from Northern Summer 2025.
“We welcome the determination and will provide further details on our flight schedule as soon as possible,” a Qantas Group spokesperson told Karryon.
Meanwhile, Qantas subsidiary Jetstar plans to operate four services per week between Sydney and Port Vila using its A321 NEO configured with 232 seats.
Originally slated to start in October 2024, the Jetstar service is planned to commence on 12 December 2024.
According to the IASC, Australian designated carriers may operate up to 4,000 seats per week of passenger capacity in each direction between Vanuatu and Australia’s four busiest ports. Virgin Australia has already been allocated a total of 2,184 seats.
Earlier this month, Virgin Australia said it would increase its weekly Vanuatu services from Brisbane to Port Vila to up to seven return flights per week from 9 July 2024 with the Federal Government’s go-ahead to up capacity even further during peak periods.
The IASC received no other applications for capacity on the Vanuatu route.
In its determination, the IASC said Qantas must fully utilise the capacity no later than 31 January 2025.
