Ten days after a deadline to submit expressions of interest (EOI) to invest in the insolvent and grounded state-owned carrier Air Vanuatu (NF, Port Vila) expired, the administrator Ernst and Young has still not commented on the success or otherwise of the sales campaign.

Ahead of the June 7, 2024, deadline, Ernst and Young placed advertisements in national dailies calling for the recapitalisation of the airline or the purchase of the business, assets, and undertakings. The advertisements noted that Air Vanuatu has slots at Sydney Kingsford Smith, Melbourne Tullamarine, Brisbane International, Auckland International, and Nadi, as well as owned and leased aircraft and other assets.

Air Vanuatu cancelled its flights on May 9, calling in the administrators the following day. The small carrier was USD73,505,247 in debt and unable to finance its operations. It later emerged that whilst in Melbourne for its C-check, the airline's sole jet, a B737-800 registered as YJ-AV8 (msn 42052), was repossessed by Air Lease Corporation. That lessor's chairman, Steven F. Udvar-Házy, later told ch-aviation the aircraft was transferring to an Asia-based operator.

The remaining fleet includes one ATR72-600 registered as YJ-AC73 (msn 1358) , three DHC-6-300s registered as YJ-AV14 (msn 527), YJ-AV100 (msn 564), and YJ-RV10 (msn 679), respectively, and one BN2 BN-2 registered as YJ-008 (msn 2172). Only two aircraft, YJ-RV10 and YJ-008 are owned by the airline and only two, YJ-AV14 and YJ-RV10, are flight-ready.

Meanwhile, Ernst and Young have refuted claims by opposition politicians in Vanuatu that all pilots have been retrenched. The airline employed 441 people, which is considered a high number of staff for an operation of Air Vanuatu’s size. In early June, Ernst and Young said 170 jobs would go to right-size the airline’s cost base and prepare the business for sale or recapitalisation. Shortly after, opposition pilots said all of Air Vanuatu's international pilots had lost their jobs.

However, Ernst and Young said this was incorrect and all pilots, along with other essential workers such as ground staff and engineers, have all kept their jobs.