Port-Vila, Vanuatu 28 April 2022: The Vanuatu Tourism Office (VTO) is excited to announce that Vanuatu will open its borders to fully-vaccinated international travelers from 1 July, 2022 with no quarantine or arrival caps, with agents able to book their clients on flights to Port Vila with the country’s national carrier, Air Vanuatu.
This is fantastic news for the local tourism industry and future international travelers, says the CEO of the Vanuatu Tourism Office, Mrs. Adela Issachar Aru.
“We’ve kept Vanuatu beautiful, and we’re thrilled to be welcoming travelers back to our shores come July,” says Mrs. Issachar Aru.
“We’ll be using the next two months to help ready our tourism operators and are working closely with the Ministry of Health, the Department of Tourism and other relevant stakeholders to ensure our people and visitors will be safe when they do travel. We’re inviting our Australians, Kiwis and New Caledonian consumers to Answer the Call of Vanuatu once again.”
The Air Vanuatu Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Atu Finau, has reaffirmed the national airline’s commitment to provide the much vital connectivity between Vanuatu and its regional network. “It’s exciting to finally be able to welcome our customers back onboard again, after the temporary suspension of our international passenger flights in March 2020. Today, we released our international schedule to commence in July, and we are confident that we can increase flight frequencies and capacity as demand grows. The pent-up demand since 2020 provides us the assurance that Vanuatu remains one of the top destinations to travel to as soon border restrictions are eased.”
For more information on the reopening flight schedule, please visit www.airvanuatu.com
“We would like to congratulate both Air Vanuatu and the Vanuatu Tourism Office for working around the clock with us on our national tourism and aviation recovery plans. 2022, what a year, finally! Airports Vanuatu Ltd shares the same enthusiasm and our team have been working tirelessly to ensure our airports infrastructure are up to standard with all COVID-travel requirements and customer experience." says Jason Rakau, Chief Executive Officer of Airports Vanuatu Ltd.
The country will still have some entry requirements in place to ensure that both visitors and locals alike are kept safe when travelling within its islands. These requirements will include being fully vaccinated, pre-departure tests and undertaking a health clearance ahead of departure, as well as arrival testing.
The local industry is currently preparing for the arrival of international travelers by refreshing and finalizing new product, liaising with Australian and New Zealand wholesalers to showcase their products, re-hiring staff and ensuring their hotels and restaurants comply with the Safe Business Operations (SBO) guidelines, a programme which covers trainings and audit checks to ensure enhanced cleaning, personal hygiene, and protection measures are in place to combat the spread of Covid-19.
“We’re so excited to be welcoming our international travellers back to Mangoes Resort. We’ve spent the last two years working tirelessly to update and refresh the resort and we can’t wait to show the beauty of Vanuatu once again.” Says Michelle Clements, Managing Director of Mangoes Resort & Restaurant in Port-Vila.
Flights are available to book from today, with Air Vanuatu resuming its services with six non-stop flights from Sydney, one direct service a week from Melbourne, and three non-stop flights a week from Brisbane to Port Vila, two weekly services from Auckland and three services a week from Noumea, with onward connections to 27 destinations within Vanuatu.
View the full border reopening plan, including details of the phased reopening and milestones leading up to the 1 July reopening on the Vanuatu Tourism Office COVID-19 information page here.