VANUATU (CU)_ Jay Ngwele, the interim Minister in Charge of Air Vanuatu in Vanuatu, claims that the government is dedicated to providing financial support for the struggling state-owned company.
In response to rumors that the airline’s Boeing 737 is about to be repossessed, he gave this guarantee in a statement.
Ngwele claimed that Air Vanuatu is assuring the public that procuring suitable aircraft to operate is the airline’s management team’s top priority.
He claimed that they have a strategy in place that includes keeping the Boeing 737 under lease as well as adding more aircraft as needed to stabilize domestic operations.
According to Ngwele, the Boeing 737 has a payment schedule in place with the lessor. One of the airline’s Twin-Otter planes was recently delivered to its PNG owner.
The corporation has disputed that it was repossessed, stating only that the lease had expired, despite our correspondent’s claims that he has received reliable information to that effect.
Last week, there were delays for customers since the airline could only fly two other Twin Otters and an ATR (regional transport aircraft) domestically. Within a few weeks, that ATR must go through a thorough inspection abroad.
It is impossible, according to the manager of the Vanuatu National Provident Fund, to approve any additional loans to Air Vanuatu.
Parmod Achary, the fund’s general manager, stated that if there was a chance to split the domestic airline from the international airline and create two new organizations, the fund would be interested in doing so.
According to him, a home firm would be successful and, with right management, could generate significant profits. An NPF loan is already being repaid by the airline. The primary balance is $7.7 million USD.
