Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Misleading itineraries/flight routes in the South Pacific 4th ed. Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
hagberg 13:41 UTC 05 Aug 2009 | In the 4th Lonely Planet South Pacific it looks as you can fly between Tonga and The Cook Islands, has it ever been possible? Same between Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. If anyone knows a company that flies between Tonga and The Cook Islands or directly between Honiara and Luganville I would be grateful. Thanks! |
Laszlo 13:57 UTC 05 Aug 2009 | Definitely no flight between Tonga and the Cooks. And there has not been one for as long as I can remember. Solomon Airlines started a Honiara-Luganville route maybe 2 years ago, but it seems they have dropped it. They seem to fly to Vila these days, which makes much more sense. See their schedule. Those itineraries in the LP guides are often based on wild fantasy. An itinerary in their Indonesia guide recommends including into a countrywise tour an uninhabited place in Papua which is so remote you could only get there by chartered helicopter! | 1
ozziegiraffe 11:12 UTC 08 Aug 2009 | The Honiara-Santo flight was actually part of a triangle they were negotiating between Brisbane, Santo and Honiara, which would have been popular with divers. Also, the Church of Melanesia has its Vanuatu Headquarters in Luganville, so it would have been helpful for numerous church people travelling across to Honiara for meetings. (This happens more regualrly than many tourists would realise). However, Australia never gave landing rights for flights to Santo to or from Brisbane. Like Henderson in Honiara, Luganville airport is a World War II leftover, and big enough for international flights. | 2
raro 11:36 UTC 08 Aug 2009 | Nver been a direct connection from Tonga to the Cooks or vice versa. One used to be able to fly to Nadi Fiji, then get to Tonga from there, but the Cooks to Fiji flight stopped a few yrs ago. One has to go back to Auckland, and then up to Tonga. So to go 1100 miles, one has to go 3300 miles. | 3
hagberg 11:04 UTC 09 Aug 2009 | You can fly Brisbane-Santo with Air Vanuatu. Our itinerary looks like this: Brisbane-Honiara-Port Vila-Auckland-Rarotonga. (US$~1000) | 4