The Vanuatu Government is continuing to maintain several airports that currently have no flight services, with costs exceeding VT2 million — a situation drawing concern from remote communities burdened by high travel costs.
One of these airports is Lajmoli, located on the west coast of Santo, which has not seen a flight in over 10 years. Despite this, maintenance work continues. A reliable source within the Public Works Department confirmed that more than VT2 million is being spent on runway maintenance alone.
Allan Taman, a resident of West Coast Santo, expressed frustration, saying airlines should consider resuming services to help local communities.
“We spend over VT100,000 to VT200,000 just to travel to Luganville to collect VT30,000 — it doesn’t make sense,” he said. “There is an airport here that could serve people from North West and West Coast Santo, and a flight would cost around VT6,000–VT8,000, which is much more reasonable.”
Mr. Taman also questioned why aircraft are able to land on similar runways in Banks and Torres but not at Lajmoli.
Similar concerns were raised by Johnie Bani, Area Administrator for West Ambae, who pointed out that despite regular maintenance at Walaha Airport, no flights are landing there either.
“You’d think flights are still using it — it’s so well-maintained — but that’s not the case,” he said. “Air Vanuatu stopped flying there last year, and while flights go to other provinces occasionally, Walaha remains without service.”
Acting Director of Civil Aviation, Wilfred Makaba, said the government should consider subsidising air routes, just as it does with ships.
“Civil Aviation has not closed these airports. Airlines make those decisions because they are businesses. When a route is not profitable — what we call a ‘Non-Profitable Route’ — they cancel it,” he explained. “To ensure continued service to remote areas, the government could subsidise these routes.”
Makaba confirmed that Lajmoli and Red Cliff (South Ambae) airports remain operational and it is up to the airlines to resume services.
Mr. Taman believes that restoring air service to Lajmoli would generate revenue and ease the financial burden on locals.
“Locals are spending too much just to reach Luganville. I believe if flights resume at Lajmoli, it would be profitable.”
Air Vanuatu told VBTC News that flights stopped to Lajmoli following a plane crash in 2008 and have not resumed since. Following the airline’s liquidation and operational changes, current services are limited to major airports.
Unity Airlines said it flies to most islands but depends on passenger demand to justify long-distance routes.
VBTC News attempted to reach Air Taxi for comment but was unsuccessful.
According to information received, Vanuatu has a total of 26 airports across the country.
