Vanuatu Flight Changes September 2026

What They Mean for Travellers

There has been another change to international flights around Vanuatu this week, so if you have travel booked to Beachfront on Aore, Aore Tree House on  Aore Island  flying into Santo over the next few months its worth checking your itinerary again.

Solomon Airlines has revised its international schedule from 16 September 2026 while it moves to a single international aircraft operation. The airline says the changes follow delays to repairs on its second Airbus A320.

 The revised schedule affects Brisbane, Honiara, Auckland, Port Vila, Santo, Nadi and Munda services, so this isn't just a Santo or Vanuatu issue. It is a fairly big reshuffle of the airlines international network.

For people travelling to Aore Island and  Santo, there is some good news. Brisbane to Santo is still planned to operate twice a week. The Thursday flight remains and Solomon Airlines has announced that the second weekly service will change from Tuesday to Sunday, subject to approval.

So Santo hasn't lost the second Brisbane flight, and that part is important. Earlier this year Solomon Airlines expanded Brisbane to Santo to two weekly services, initially adding Saturday flights and then moving that second service to Tuesday from July. Now it looks like Sunday will become the second day.

Why did Solomon Airlines change the flights?

This isn't Vanuatu changing the flights, and I think that distinction is important because whenever something goes wrong with Pacific travel I quite often see Vanuatu getting blamed.

In this case Solomon Airlines has explained that its second A320 has been undergoing repairs and its return has taken longer than expected. The airline has therefore consolidated its flying around one international aircraft from 16 September until the end of November, with additional aircraft capacity expected during the December and January peak period.

Basically they have less aircraft available, so they have had to move flights around to make the network work. Not ideal if your booking gets changed obviously, but there is a difference between knowing what has happened and just deciding Vanuatu is suddenly impossible to get to.

It isn't. You may just need to look at your options differently.

Already booked? Check the actual booking

If you already have a Solomon Airlines booking, I would check it now. Don't rely on a screenshot of your itinerary from three months ago.

Check your day, check the departure time, check the arrival time and then check anything you booked around that flight. If you have hotels, domestic flights, airport transfers, tours or a boat booked separately, the airline obviously doesn't know about those arrangements.

That's the bit you need to check yourself.

The Sunday Santo flight

Moving a flight from Tuesday to Sunday probably looks like a fairly simple change on a timetable. For some Australian travellers it could actually be a better day.

But Sunday in Vanuatu isn't really just another trading day. Church and family are still a very big part of Sunday here. Shops can close earlier, some transport is reduced and smaller businesses often operate differently.

And I do wonder slightly whether anyone checks how the destination actually works when these timetables are put together. Not as a complaint, just practically, because the aircraft landing is only half the trip.

A visitor still has to get from the airport to wherever they are staying. If you're staying in Luganville, probably fairly simple. If you're travelling further out on Santo, to Malo, Aore or somewhere requiring another boat or road transfer, arrival time starts to matter.

For our Aore accommodation, for example, our normal staff and boat operations finish around 4pm. We don't normally move guests across the water after dark. Guests also normally do their grocery shopping in Santo before coming across because Aore doesn't have a big supermarket.

On Sunday many of those shops are closed by around 4pm. So if a Sunday flight ends up arriving late afternoon, the solution isn't panic. It might simply mean staying in Santo that night and travelling across the next morning.

That's really all travellers need to know.

What happens if the plane is late?

This is another reason I wouldn't plan an onward transfer too tightly. A flight scheduled to arrive late afternoon doesn't necessarily arrive exactly then.

An aircraft can be delayed. Immigration takes time. Bags take time. By the time you walk out of the airport the transport you planned may no longer be practical.

Again, there are easy solutions. Stay in Luganville, have dinner, sleep, shop in the morning and head across in daylight.

Sometimes we make travel complicated because we are determined to make every connection work on the same day. Adding one night can actually make the entire trip easier.

You can also travel through Port Vila

The direct Brisbane to Santo flights are great when the dates work, but they are not your only way of getting to Santo.

Port Vila has substantially more international air traffic. Current September 2026 schedules show around 21 international arrivals into Port Vila each week, including services from Brisbane, Nadi, Auckland, Sydney, Noumea and other regional connections.

Brisbane alone currently has about 8 direct flights a week to Port Vila operated by Qantas and Virgin Australia.

So if the direct Santo flight doesn't work for your dates, look at Brisbane to Port Vila, then look at the domestic connection from Port Vila to Santo.

Current schedules show around 13 flights a week between Santo and Port Vila, so generally there are considerably more domestic options than direct international flights into Santo.

That route can sometimes give you much more flexibility. It may mean an extra flight and it may mean a night in Port Vila, but it may also let you travel on the dates you actually want.



Don't make the connection too clever

This is probably one of my biggest bits of advice for Pacific travel. Leave some room.

If you are travelling Brisbane to Port Vila and then Santo, especially if those flights are booked separately, don't build an itinerary where everything falls apart if the first flight is 45 minutes late.

Aviation in small island countries is different. There are fewer aircraft, fewer backup services and weather can cause changes. A mechanical issue with one aircraft can flow through several other flights.

Sometimes paying for one hotel night in Vila is cheaper than spending the first day of your holiday stressed about whether you are going to make a connection. We are very good at finding the cheapest airfare. We aren't always as good at finding the easiest holiday.

They are not necessarily the same thing.

What about travelling through Fiji?

Nadi is another useful gateway. Current schedules show Fiji Airways operating around four direct Nadi to Port Vila flights a week in September.

For travellers coming from other parts of Australia, New Zealand or further overseas, it can sometimes be worth comparing a Fiji connection instead of trying to force everything through Brisbane.

Again, the right route depends on where you're starting, your dates and how much flexibility you have.

Check what happens after you land

This is probably the biggest thing travellers forget. Finding the international flight isn't the end of your planning.

If you're going beyond the main town, ask your accommodation what time you can check in, whether they can collect you, whether transfers operate on Sunday and whether boats run after dark.

Also ask where you can get groceries, what happens if your plane is delayed and whether you need to stay in town overnight.

None of those questions are difficult, but knowing the answers before you arrive can completely change the experience.

A planned overnight stay feels like part of the holiday. An unexpected overnight stay feels like something has gone terribly wrong.

Same hotel room, completely different feeling.

Santo still has direct Brisbane flights

The part I don't want lost amongst all the schedule change discussion is this. Santo is still keeping two direct Brisbane services a week under Solomon Airlines' revised plan, and that is important for tourism in northern Vanuatu.

Santo doesn't have to be somewhere you only visit after Port Vila. Australians can still fly directly from Brisbane, and if those days don't suit, Port Vila gives travellers another way in.

So I wouldn't read this week's news and think Vanuatu is too hard. I would read it as: check your flight, check your connection and then make a plan that actually works.

Airlines change schedules. Aircraft break. Flights get delayed. That happens everywhere.

What we can do better in Vanuatu tourism is explain what happens next.

If you're arriving late, stay the night. If you need food, organise it beforehand or shop the next morning. If your island transfer needs daylight, don't try and turn a boat into an Uber.

And if the direct flight doesn't work, look at transfer through Port Vila onto Santo. There are usually more options than people realise. The aim shouldn't be to pretend travel never changes. It should be to make sure a change to a flight doesn't have to ruin the holiday.

Looking on visitng Aore Island reach out to us at info@vanuatuisland.org

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