Air Vanuatu was in a poor financial position
- BTN News
- Friday, 17 May 2024
There's no news of when Air Vanuatu will resume flying, but one jet at Melbourne Airport was repossessed because the airline could not pay its debts.
Its other five aircraft are in Port Vila, Vanuatu, where the airline is based.
Three of them need maintenance and two are said to be flight ready.
Liquidator Ernst & Young Australia (EY) took control of the business on Friday, May 10 as the airline was grounded, leaving about 4,000 would-be passengers without flights.
A time frame for resumption of Air Vanuatu operations is yet to be confirmed.
EY said: “Before our appointment, the company’s poor financial position had meant aircraft had been repossessed and it was unable to pay its debts.
“It was clearly not in a position to meet its financial commitments from its own resources.”
It also said Air Vanuatu was “unable to meet the costs of parts critical to the fleet’s operation,” which resulted in aircraft being grounded for extended periods of time, and that it encountered issues, “such as defaulting under supplier arrangements and the company’s insurance policies”.
It is estimated Air Vanuatu owes secured creditors US$10,656,165 and unsecured creditors US$26,626,609.
EY says it wants the airline to operate while future options are explored.
