Virgin Australia will 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.
This flight increase follows the International Air Services Commission’s approval for VA to operate additional capacity on Vanuatu routes with an extra 1,304 seats per week on its Boeing 737 fleet.
The news comes after VA increased its Port Vila services from three to five per week in May and June at the request of the Australian Government in response to the collapse of Air Vanuatu.
Planes were grounded in mid-May following the announcement of the airline’s liquidation as administrators worked to restore normal operations, leaving passengers stranded.
Currently, VA is the only carrier flying to the island nation from Australia now with four times the operational flight capacity due to the recent increases.
In May, Qantas Group also applied to the International Air Services Commission (IASC), requesting an allocation of 1,798 seats per week on the Port Vila route.
If approved, this would see Qantas operate up to five QF flights a week to Port Vila from August 2024 and Jetstar operate up to four weekly services using 232-seat Airbus A321 NEO aircraft from October.
Both these applications are still pending with requests closing on 5 June.
The additional VA Brisbane-Port Vila services are on sale now.
For more info, head to virginaustralia.com
