Christchurch-Vanuatu flights to start for first time this winter on Solomon Airlines

Solomon Airlines today announced multiple new services, some targeted at Kiwi winter holidaymakers.

The first regular air service from Christchurch to Vanuatu will start this winter on Solomon Airlines.

The journey to Port Vila will take about four hours, and the airline today also announced expansion of its Auckland service.

The airline will use the narrowbody Airbus A320-200 for the Christchurch-Port Vila journey.

Solomon Airlines said flights would operate twice weekly, departing Christchurch on Thursday and Sunday mornings from the start of July.

“The flight back from Port Vila to Christchurch will operate on Wednesday and Saturday in the afternoon, allowing for a full day in Vanuatu prior to returning.”

During mid-winter in Christchurch, the Melanesian archipelago just north of New Caledonia frequently has daytime highs above 30 degrees.

“Vanuatu is known for its incredible natural beauty, warm hospitality, and year-round tropical climate and is a vibrant alternative to more cluttered tourist destinations,” Solomon Airlines chief executive Paul Abbot said today.

“This direct service to Port Vila is a brilliant opportunity for South Islanders to enjoy an easy tropical break,” said Christchurch Airport chief executive Justin Watson.

He said the country’s attractions included snorkelling, diving, and markets.

Vanuatu Tourism Office chief executive Adela Issachar Aru said the tropical country also offered hospitality, stunning islands, and good food.

Vanuatu’s tourism bureau said the country also featured the world’s “most accessible active volcano” in Mt Yasur in Tanna Island.

Vanuatu straddles the sea northeast of New Caledonia and west of Fiji. Image / Google

The Christchurch to Port Vila (CHC-VLI) flights were on sale until January 26 for $739 return during August and November.

Solomon Airlines today also announced a fourth weekly direct Auckland-Port Vila flight.

That service will start on Friday, July 3.

The airline also announced a new service between Solomon Islands capital Honiara and Papua New Guinea’s Port Moresby starting on March 30.

That flight would be timed to allow flight connections with China Southern Airlines, which flies from the megalopolis of Guangzhou to Port Moresby.

It also announced a new Honiara-Port Vila service, due to start on March 30.

And from Brisbane, Solomon Airlines will start a second weekly flight to Santo in Luganville on Vanuatu’s largest island, Espiritu Santo.

The extra Brisbane-Santo service will run from April 4.

Vanuatu's underwater post office in the Hideaway Island marine sanctuary. Photo / Vanuatu Tourism

Solomon Airlines has been expanding in recent months, after trouble befell Air Vanuatu.

Air Vanuatu entered voluntary liquidation in May 2024.

It resumed some domestic services after a $3.28m cash injection from the Vanuatu Government two months later, but has not returned to the international arena.

Last July, Solomon Airlines announced it would celebrate Vanuatu Independence Day with discounts on flights from Auckland to Port Vila.

According to the Figure.NZ website, New Zealand residents made 13,207 flights to Vanuatu in 2024.

Though that number was up on the year before, it was well below pre-Covid peaks.

In 2018 and the following year, New Zealand residents made more than 16,000 trips to Vanuatu.

Apart from two A320s, Solomon Airlines’ fleet includes a de Havilland Dash 8 (Q300).

It also had three de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otters, one of which was sent to help Air Vanuatu after cyclones struck the country in 2023.

John Weekes is a business journalist covering aviation. He has previously covered consumer affairs, crime, politics and courts.

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