Airports Vanuatu has apologised to the Daily Post Newspaper over an incident last week where one of its security officers requested a Daily Post reporter, to delete all photos she had taken of the repatriation of Ni-Vanuatu citizens and residents from New Zealand.

Airports Vanuatu says during the recent repatriation flights which are part of the Vanuatu Government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, an Airports Vanuatu Aviation Security official requested a Daily Post photographer to delete photographs taken from outside the airport perimeter, even though the photographer was not acting illegally.

Airports Vanuatu instigated a review of the incident and identified an error had been made, prompting the apology to the photographer and the Daily Post.

Kevin Abel, Airports Vanuatu General Manager Operations, says, “Regrettably our staff member got it wrong on the day.”

“We have apologised and in reviewing the incident, identified that there was room for improvement on our side. We commit to implementing a formal media policy, to clarify the situation for our staff, the media and the public, supported by additional training of staff,” he said.

“We recognise that Airports Vanuatu are often the location of significant media interest and we are committed to working with the media in future to satisfy the public appetite for news.

“We have implemented a procedure whereby we can make images available to the media for publication,” said Mr Abel.