Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Air Vanuatu vs Pacific Air- safety? Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Vanuatu
cotswolds 22:40 UTC 06 Sep 2007 | Hi, We have a choice between flying to Vanuatu with Air Vanuatu and Pacific Blue (Virgin). Which is safer? more reliable, more punctual?more modern? Also: what is VanAir like? Has anyone flown lately with them? Thanks for your advice! |
mandja 08:45 UTC 07 Sep 2007 | I dont know for sure , but I suspect that the answer is more likely to be Pacific Blue as its base is in Australia and thus subject to more stringent testing etc. Also, Im guessing that the owners of Pacific Blue being a profitable listed Public Company in Australia are likely to have more resources behind then so as to not need to save on maintenance. Air Vanuatu is Government owned. | 1
mandja 08:46 UTC 07 Sep 2007 | Van Air is also Government owned. | 2
harry_mudd 09:42 UTC 07 Sep 2007 | both are fine. I flew Sydney - Tong via Virgin, and had a great time. | 3
bluesun78 07:27 UTC 09 Sep 2007 | Van Air and Air Vanuatu are now one and the same company. I fly out of Brisbane on Sunday with Air Vanuatu so I'll report back and let you know what I thought. I take some comfort in the fact that Qantas codeshare with Air Vanuatu - you'd hope that guarantees some level of safety! Wishful thinking perhaps??? :-D | 4
Laszlo 13:18 UTC 09 Sep 2007 | I found Air Vanuatu great. Friendly, reliable, easygoing when it came to date changes. I would fly with them any time again, and would certainly prefer them to a budget airline. | 5
yehyeh 15:02 UTC 11 Sep 2007 | I've flown both Air Vanuatu and Pacific Blue, I'd rate them pretty much the same. Internal flights on Van Air were a bit questionable - they overbooked and someone had to miss out. They only realised after the plane was loaded with passengers and there weren't enough seats to go round. So arguments between passengers and staff ensued about who would be taken off the plane. But then with internal flights I don't think you have much choice but to fly Van Air. | 6
ozjo2001 18:36 UTC 12 Sep 2007 | Air Vanuatu provides food and drinks free as part of the service. I've flown Air Vanuatu a few times, found them great each time (except for the 5 hour delay on the last flight back). I just flew with Pacific Blue a few days ago from NZ. Not only do you pay for food etc but they managed to burn most of the food supply and as we were sitting at the rear of the plane, we went hungry. I found Van Air OK flying Efate to Tanna on the big plane. I'll have a better idea of their service after a month of island hopping at the end of the year. Happy travels, Jo | 7
harry_mudd 07:51 UTC 14 Sep 2007 | #7, that is why the airticket is much cheaper. duh. | 8