Solomon Airlines turns to ACMI providers after A320 damaged

By Andrew Curran.

Solomon Airlines is relying on wet-leased aircraft after one of its A320s was damaged by stairs in a ground-handling incident at Brisbane Airport (BNE) earlier this month.

The A320-200, H4-SIB (msn 02445), went out of service on July 1 following the incident and is currently at an MRO facility in Brisbane.

Since then, Solomon Airlines has alternated between wet-leasing an E190-100 from Alliance Airlines and an A319-100 from Skytrans. Using the different-gauge jets on different days, Solomon Airlines is primarily deploying the wet-leased aircraft on the Honiara (HIR) – Brisbane (BNE) city pair.

Solomon Airlines CEO Matthew Findley told Aero South Pacific that the wet-leases are on an ad hoc basis while the A320 is repaired.

"It might continue for another two to three weeks," he said.

Third party damages aircraft door

Aero South Pacific understands a third party caused significant damage to the area near the aircraft’s door, and Solomon Airlines is awaiting an impact assessment from the manufacturer before repairs can be carried out.

H4-SIB is one of two A320-200s operated by Solomon Airlines. The other, H4-SAL (msn 05566), remains in service and is kept busy on the carrier's other international routes, including the recently launched Port Vila (VLI) – Christchurch (CHC) and Honiara – Port Moresby (POM) services.

Meanwhile, the carrier's sole DHC-8-100, H4-SOL (msn 289), remains out of service while it undergoes a scheduled C-check at Cairns (CNS). The work is taking longer than expected, and Solomon Airlines is experiencing some difficulties maintaining its domestic schedules.

The Solomon Star reports that recurring cancellations caused by a shortage of aircraft, particularly on routes around Western Province, are causing problems for passengers.

Solomon Airlines flies to 22 domestic airports and seven international airports. Two DHC-6-300s are covering domestic services until the DHC-8-100 returns to service, currently expected to happen around the end of August.

Solomon Airlines resets Christchurch flights to seasonal services 

Separately, the airline's recently launched Christchurch – Port Vila flights will revert to seasonal services in late October due to a combination of high operating costs and weaker-than-anticipated demand.

The twice-weekly round-trips only began earlier this month, and Solomon Airlines has already trimmed frequencies during some weeks. However, flights will cease on October 31.

Photo: Solomon Airlines.

Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com