Air Van eyes Air NZ c’share
VANUATU’S national carrier Air Vanuatu is keen to tap into a larger slice of the New Zealand market through a new codeshare deals with Air New Zealand.
Air Vanuatu’s recently appointed gm commercial Jeff Murdoch says the deal is on the table.
He told Travel Daily yesterday at the Tok Tok travel trade show in Port Vila that NF had offered an opportunity for the Kiwi carrier to re-enter the market on its metal on a codeshare basis, which they had prior to Air New Zealand withdrawing from flying to VLI in Jan 2016 due to runway concerns.
“That’s a standing invitation to come back,” he explained.
“They may not wish to, or may not be capable of operating their own metal at this point in time because it takes time to get things regenerated, so it’s an open offer.”
Murdoch also said Air Vanuatu was “very close” to signing a deal with Aircalin (SB) to codeshare on each other’s services between Noumea and Port Vila.
The flagged codeshare growth would build on Air Vanuatu’s already renewed pact with Fiji Airways, reinstated recently after some “minor issues”, he said.
He said ultimately NF would like to boost its frequencies into Nadi from the current one per week.
Another codeshare agreement with Air Niugini was also under evaluation and would provide an opportunity for Air Vanuatu to offer a one-stop connection into China, through Port Moresby.
Murdoch said Air Niugini was keen to add Shanghai to its modest destination network.
“If we can garner some of the traffic off that it’ll be an excellent result,” he said.
The former Qantas exec of nearly 30 years was also “ecstatic” with having the QF code back on its flights to Port Vila since 16 Jun.
“They are making a significant contribution. There has been an incremental increase in business as a result of their relaunch.
“Qantas is able to provide much broader distribution to Vanuatu than we can on our own through their frequent flyer program, and they have done some significant promotion to get that side of the market going again,” he added.