More Flights Between Australia And Solomon Islands

More Flights Between Australia And Solomon Islands

Airlines can now double the number flights between Australia and Solomon Islands, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Gillard Labor Government and Solomon Islands.

We want to make it easier and cheaper for Australians to travel to Solomon Islands and across the South Pacific.

It is a positive way of supporting the Solomons’ economy and its developing tourism industry.

As well as the extra seats, we have agreed that airlines will be able to stopover at most airports in the Pacific along the way.

That means greater opportunities for Australians and Pacific Islanders to travel to and between popular holiday destinations such as Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia.

The new arrangements will allow both countries to:

• offer up to 1,250 seats a week between Australia’s major gateway airports of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth and Solomon Islands – an increase of nearly 50 per cent from the current cap of 850 seats

• add further seats each year to reach 2,000 by 2015

• have almost unlimited rights to operate services to, from and via nearly any point in the Pacific and beyond

• fly unlimited flights between Australia’s regional international gateways and Solomon Islands

• use unrestricted capacity for cargo services, allowing airlines to expand their freight operations across the Pacific region.

The new agreement also strengthens safety and security procedures.

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