Vanuatu gov’t provides cash for A220s amid deal probe

The Government of Vanuatu has agreed to provide an additional VUV200 million vatus (USD1.8 million) to Air Vanuatu (NF, Port Vila) to help the state-owned carrier meet its obligations to Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) for the planned purchase of four A220s. However, the government also wants to probe the order and trim it down to two units. “This is something that the government wants to establish a Commission of Inquiry to understand why the previous board of Air Vanuatu took such a decision to commit the government of Vanuatu to four aircraft without consideration to economic factors, financial, technical factors such as its engines and certificates,” Minister of Finance and Economic Management Johnny Koanapo told the Daily Post newspaper. Koanapo underlined that the government would prefer to take only two A220s instead of four previously planned. The aircraft would operate predominantly domestically, where there is strong demand. The minister stated that Airbus has agreed to “focus on two aircraft first”. Under the existing agreement, Air Vanuatu will add two A220-100s and two A220-300s. The first -300 was due to deliver in the middle of this year and the first -100 by the end of the year. The other two aircraft were due to arrive in 2021 and 2022. Collectively, the A220s were due to be used regionally and not only within the Vanuatu archipelago. In June, the carrier’s then newly formed board said that it had deferred deliveries planned for 2020, without announcing a new schedule. The VUV200 million injection has yet to be approved by the Ni-Vanuatu parliament. According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, Air Vanuatu’s current fleet comprises three DHC-6-300s, one ATR72-600, one B737-800, and one Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander. The carrier has also been looking into replacements for its Twin Otters and Islander which are used primarily on domestic island-hopper flights. To date, however, no formal decision on an order has yet been made public.