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Airports Vanuatu Ltd (AVL) wishes to provide an update to our stakeholders on our operations in September 2022.September saw a full quarter of operations since border opening. During the month, rules regarding international pre-departure testing ceased. Nearly 42,000 domestic and international passengers were processed through AVL’s three airports. This result represents a new record, since the pandemic began.

Jason Rakau, CEO of AVL noted, “Load factors on domestic trunk routes between Port Vila and Tanna and Santo are high. In fact load factors are higher than our traditional domestic peak-demand month of December. Whilst it is great news that so many people want to fly, we are observing that latent demand is actually higher than Air Vanuatu’s current seat supply. Unfortunately, some people have been unable to find flights to suit their travel needs. October’s passenger movements are expected to be softer than September, given the current issues in aircraft seat supply. We anticipate continued challenges in the domestic trunk route market in particular, pending the return of Air Vanuatu’s ATR aircraft”.

September 2022’s passenger results

International borders opened on 1 July 2022, following 27 months of closure. In September 2022, 41,800 passengers passed through AVL’s airports, being the greatest volume processed since the pandemic began.
  • Domestic passenger movements for September comprised 24,400 departures and arrivals across AVL’s three airports. The graph below illustrates cumulative domestic passenger movements at the three airports, which bottomed out in March 2022 following the arrival of Omicron in Vanuatu.
  • International air travel was boosted from the border opening on 1 July 2022. In September 2022, 17,500 international passengers were processed, being a new post-Covid record.

Rowland Kalsong, Group Head of Operations commented, “The relief is palpable that international borders are again open to visitors. AVL thanks all our stakeholders for their co-operation and support in the period prior to opening, as we developed and tested our protocols. During September, pre-departure Covid testing ceased and we expect the removal of the previous requirements to trigger another step change in international visitation, as we build towards December, which has traditionally been one of our peak months. AVL notes that globally the aviation community is experiencing challenges in reinstating capacity and Vanuatu is no different, with impacts arising from Air Vanuatu’s reduced short term seat capacity. AVL commits to working with all our airline partners to facilitate a positive passenger experience, be they travelling domestically or internationally“.