Two New Twin Otters for Air Vanuatu, Says PM

Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat says the government has set aside VUV1 billion vatu (USD8.32 million) for Air Vanuatu to buy two Twin Otter propellor aircraft.

“This investment reflects our commitment to ensuring our people have access to reliable air services,” Napat told Port Vila’s Daily Post newspaper.

Air Vanuatu has two 18-passenger DHC-6-300 Twin Otters in its fleet, although neither presently operate.

One of the aircraft, YJ-AV11 (msn 564) is at the centre of a legal dispute between its owner, who leases the aircraft to Air Vanuatu, and the airline and has remained out-of-service for some time.

The second Twin Otter, YJ-RV10 (msn 679), has not flown for at least three months, according to open-access flight tracking websites. Both aircraft are almost 50 years old, and Aero South Pacific understands ongoing maintenance requirements, a shortage of spare parts, and a shortage of cash to pay for more spare parts is behind the grounding of RV10.

The Twin Otters play an important role in linking Port Vila to smaller airports scattered around Vanuatu’s inhabited islands. Air Vanuatu’s only other aircraft, an ATR72-600 is too big to land at some airports.

“Connectivity remains a major challenge,” said Napat.

The former Vanuatu Government decided to liquidate state-owned Air Vanuatu in April 2024. The chronically inefficient and loss-making airline had accrued unsustainable levels of debt and was unable to pay its bills.

Australia-based liquidators Ernst & Young were tasked with selling the airline. However, they failed to find interested parties, instead settling on a shelf company, AV3, established by Vanuatu’s Ministry of Finance, as the most suitable buyer.

For better or worse, rthe decision keeps the airline in the government's hands. Vanuatu regularly cycles through different administrations. The most recent elections were in January 2025, which resulted in Napat taking the top job.

The prime minister did not say when the Twin Otters would arrive or where they would come from. The most recent Vanuatu budget, handed down in March, does not specifically allocate any funding towards the purchase.