Air Vanuatu (NF, Port Vila) has wet-leased in capacity from Air Nauru (Nauru) while the Ni-Vanuatu carrier secures replacement parts for its sole B737-800. Air Vanuatu says Air Nauru will operate the flights until at least the middle of the following week, by which time their own B737-800 is expected to be back in the air.
As reported in ch-aviation, Air Vanuatu grounded their B737-800, YJ-AV8 (msn 42052), on March 31, 2023, for unspecified maintenance reasons. The aircraft operates Air Vanuatu's scheduled services to Sydney Kingsford Smith, Brisbane International, and Auckland International. Earlier this week, Air Vanuatu said it was scrambling to source the necessary spare parts for the as-yet unexplained maintenance issue and accommodate passengers on alternative flights with other carriers.
On April 6, Air Vanuatu said it had secured the needed parts from a source in Asia and expected to have YJ-AV8 operational again by mid next week. FlightRadar24 ADS-B data indicates Nauru Airlines has been operating at least one roundtrip service a day since April 2 between Port Vila and Brisbane using a B737-300. In their April 6 statement, Air Vanuatu said Nauru Airlines would also also provide roundtrip flights on the city pair on April 8, 9, and 11, and operate a roundtrip Port Vila - Sydney service on April 10. Meanwhile, Nauru Airlines is also housing Air Vanuatu's grounded B737-800 at their maintenance hangar at Brisbane.
