Aviation: EVERBODY LOVES ESPIRITU SANTO!

Samisoni Pareti Three regional airlines are eyeing direct air services to Vanuatu’s largest island of Espiritu Santo (known as Santo). Air Vanuatu is expected to launch its new Brisbane-Santo service on August 5, using its leased Boeing 737 aircraft. Solomon Airlines’s leased Embraer 170 jet also flies to Santo from Brisbane twice-a-week with stopovers in Honiara. But its attempts to launch a direct Brisbane-Aviation: EVERBODY LOVES ESPIRITU SANTOSanto service however, has been thwarted by Australia’s refusal to grant landing rights. Competition is going to be intense now that Fiji’s international carrier Air Pacific has expressed interest to offer a Fiji-Santo service. Speaking at the June’s annual meeting of the Association of South Pacific Airlines (ASPA) in Cairns, Air Pacific’s chief executive John Campbell said the airline’s new domestic and regional subsidiary, Pacific Sun, has got Santo on its “map.”“We are interested in linking Santo up with our services from North America and Japan,” said Campbell. Pacific Sun currently flies twice-a-week to Port Vila, Vanuatu’s capital, on Efate Island.Campbell said the airline is also eyeing a Fiji-Vavau service, linking Tonga’s second group of islands directly with Air Pacific’s flights to North America and Japan from Nadi.Pacific Sun’s interest in Santo caught Ted Drew, Air Vanuatu’s acting general manager sales and marketing, by surprise.Drew—who had spoke before Campbell at the ASPA meeting—explained the extra interest in Santo. “Santo is undoubtedly Vanuatu’s dive mecca as it is home to the largest intact sea wreck in the South Pacific in the form of President Coolidge.“In addition, we at Air Vanuatu want to spread the benefits of the tourism boom the country is presently enjoying. Today, 20% of all visitors to Vanuatu go to another island than Efate. In the past, only 10% of our visitors used to do that.”He said the direct Brisbane-Santo service was a big move for Vanuatu’s international carrier. It would complement the airline’s additional flights to Sydney from Port Vila.Solomon Airlines, on the other hand, is frustrated with Australia’s decision not to approve its proposed Brisbane-Santo direct service.On July 23, the country’s finance minister, Gordon Darcy Lilo accused Canberra of playing politics, adding that its refusal to grant the airline landing rights was worsening the airline’s financial woes.Solomon Airlines was the first to open up Santo to direct international air services when it introduced its Brisbane-Honiara-Santo flights last year using a leased Boeing 737.


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