Qantas and its budget carrier Jetstar have made a huge move in the aviation market after the shock collapse of an airline which had been flying to Australia.
Vanuatu’s tourism-reliant economy is facing an uncertain future following the collapse of its national carrier, Air Vanuatu.
Sky News has spoken to a number of local tourism operators who say they worry that the airline’s reputation for being unreliable will have a long-term impact on the country’s international reputation for holidaymakers.
Last week, the company cut off a vital tourism lifeline for the country when it was liquidated.
Many visitors outside the main island remain stranded without commercial domestic flights.
The flying kangaroo will be first to take-off to the Pacific island nation, with flights from Brisbane to the Vanuatu capital Port Vila three times a week from September 10.
Qantas said in a statement it has the ability to scale up to five weekly services depending on demand for the new route which will be operated by a Boeing 737.
Jetstar will then launch up to four weekly services between Sydney and Port Vila from December 12 using an Airbus A321neo LR.
Together, Qantas and Jetstar will offer more than 150,000 seats annually between Australia and Vanuatu which will help fill the gap left behind by Air Vanuatu.
Qantas and Jetstar will launch services to Vanuatu later this week. Picture: Brendan Radke
All Air Vanuatu flights were grounded after the airline entered into liquidation on May 9, with a report later revealing the carrier owed creditors almost $110 million.
Qantas and Air Vanuatu had been codeshare partners but that agreement came to an ended due to the liquidation.
Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace said the airline was “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,” he said.
Air Vanuatu entered liquidation in early May. Picture: Supplied
Jetstar Group CEO Stephanie Tully said the low-cost carrier was “excited to be able to offer more Australians great value holiday options to one of our nearest and most beautiful Pacific island destinations”.
Both Qantas and Jetstar flights went on sale on Thursday.
Virgin Australia – currently the only airline flying between Australia and Vanuatu – boosted its flights between Brisbane and Port Vila from two to five services a week until the end of June at the request of the Australian government following Air Vanuatu’s grounding.
Approval was later granted by the International Air Services Commission for Virgin Australia to operate an additional seven weekly services to Vanuatu from July.
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Virgin Australia is expected to add up to five weekly Sydney-Port Vila flights, along with two extra Brisbane-Port Vila services.
Meanwhile, reports emerged on Thursday that Qatar Airways – which has been pushing for more flights to Australia – was looking at buying an up to 20 per cent stake in Virgin Australia.
While Qantas and Qatar Airways are both in the oneworld alliance, the Doha-based airline has had a strategic partnership with Virgin Australia since September 2022.
The flying kangaroo, meanwhile, has had a long standing partnership with Dubai-based Emirates.