Solomon Airlines grounds sole jet over contaminated fuel
Solomons – Solomon Airlines (IE, Honiara) has grounded its sole jet after a fuel contamination issue. The airline made the announcement on May 1, 2023, saying they did not yet know when A320-200 H4-SIB (msn 2445) return to service.
“We are liaising with Airbus to assist with resolving the issue,” said a statement from the airline. “Our team are striving to resolve the issue, whilst sourcing replacement aircraft to cover the affected services utilising operators approved and in compliance with our AOC and CAASI (Civil Aviation Authority of the Solomon Islands).”
ADS-B data indicates the aircraft has not flown since April 26 when it operated a sector between Honiara and Brisbane International. The airline’s A320 services on April 29 and 30 were operated by Nauru Airlines (ON, Nauru) using B737-300 VH-XNU (msn 25609), while sistership VH-PNI (msn 28555) ran services on May 1. Solomon Airlines is warning its A320-200 may be out of the air for the remainder of the week.
This is the second grounding of a jet from a small airline in the Southwest Pacific in as many months. In late March, Air Vanuatu (NF, Port Vila) pulled its sole B737-800 out of service over an undisclosed engineering issue. That aircraft was on the ground for around two weeks, with H4-SIB covering some of its normal services.
Meanwhile, on the same day that the Solomon Airlines Airbus stopped flying, the airline announced the “next phase” of its partnership with Air Vanuatu, establishing a wet-lease arrangement involving H4-SIB. The Port Vila based airline will get Solomon Airlines to operate Port Vila – Auckland International and Espiritu Santo – Brisbane International roundtrips once weekly from June 5, 2023, using H4-SIB.
“We are national carriers with similar responsibilities and aims, we are of similar corporate size, and we are experiencing the same challenges to sustain our operations,” said Air Vanuatu A/CEO Joseph Laloyer. The New Zealand service, which both airlines hope will become a fully fledged codeshare arrangement, will operate a Honaira – Port Vila – Auckland – Port Vila – Honiara rotation and also provide the only through service on the New Zealand – Solomon Islands country pair.
“This new agreement paves the way for us to help each other, whilst still maintaining the independence of each country’s national carrier,” said Solomon Airlines CEO Gus Kraus. “We are helping our neighbours and we’re both benefitting, it is only the beginning of opportunities that we can create by leveraging each other’s capabilities.”
When not grounded, H4-SIB operates a Brisbane – Honaira – Brisbane roundtrip on Mondays, the day the New Zealand wet lease will operate. Solomon Airlines warns there will be some “limited changes” to scheduled international and domestic flights from June 5. Solomon Airlines will operate the weekly roundtrip between Espiritu Santo and Brisbane every Thursday from early June for Air Vanuatu. H4-SIB does not presently operate scheduled flights on Thursdays.
Solomon Airlines began wet-leasing DHC-6-300s to Air Vanuatu earlier this year for short inter-island domestic operations. That arrangement also continues.