Hundreds of Air Vanuatu passengers stranded as airline enters voluntary administration

Hundreds of passenger are stranded across the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand after carrier Air Vanuatu grounded cancelled scores of flights last minute. Plagued by technical faults for several months, the airline filed for insolvency on Monday, with an administrator yet to be named. The national carrier, based out of Port Vila published a list of 20 impacted services, including four cancelled Auckland flights, blaming mechanical issues. A travel advisory published by the airline last night blamed “extended maintenance requirements” for the delay. “We are working with our partner carriers to minimise the disruption to our guests.” There was currently no update on replacement flights for affected passengers.<br/>One Kiwi traveller stranded on Vanuatuan island Espiritu Santo with his wife said they and scores of passengers were still waiting for more information. “We’ve heard nothing at all, except [the flights] have all been cancelled,” he told the Herald. Due to the airline’s routes, affected passengers were mostly Australians and New Zealanders. The traveller said he had been hoping to fly via Brisbane back to Auckland, but all the regional departures had also been grounded.<br/>