Commercial flights resume to earthquake-hit Vanuatu

The scene at Port Vila Airport on Saturday. Photo: RNZ/Koroy Hawkins

Commercial flights to Vanuatu are set to resume today, five days after a severe earthquake struck the island.

Jason Rakow Photography: RNZ/Koroi Hawkins

Jason Rakau, CEO of Vanuatu Airports, said he was grateful that the only damage to the airport was caused by objects being thrown into the terminal.

“We have had a number of different engineers come to us to assess the situation, and what they have reported so far is that there has been no damage to our structure.

“This has now enabled us to take the decision to resume commercial operations.”

The priority was to enable Vanuatu citizens stranded outside the country to return home, and to enable visitors to Vanuatu to leave.

Rakow expressed hope that passengers would be able to return home for Christmas.

He said stranded passengers should organize travel with their airlines.

Meanwhile, two passengers on New Zealand's latest repatriation flight from Vanuatu on Saturday said it was a huge relief to find out they had seats on the plane.

About 70 evacuees from 16 countries boarded a Defense Force flight that landed in Aotearoa last night.

Rebecca Shrigley and Noroa Marsters from Auckland were holidaying at the Iririki Island Resort in Port Vila.

They say the earthquake was a terrible experience.

“We were just coming back from the coast so we were out and about,” Shrigley said.

“It was as if the earth was an ocean, and the concrete was like a wave.”

They held on to each other as their car shook, Marsters said.

Aftershocks continue

Vanuatu was hit by another earthquake this morning after Tuesday's 7.3 magnitude quake caused widespread damage.

The aftershock occurred near the island nation at around 4.30am New Zealand time, with a magnitude of 6.1 and a depth of 40 kilometres.

It is the latest in a series of aftershocks.

Starlink is invaluable

The Red Cross says Starlink has been transformative in disaster response in Vanuatu.

One of the damaged buildings in Port Vila. Photo: RNZ/Koroi Hawkins

John Moriarty, who works in Port Vila, said most of the capital's infrastructure was completely destroyed.

He received his first Starlink kit for the Red Cross in Vanuatu 18 months ago, and brought an additional kit to improve coverage.

Both have proven their value as the country recovers from the disaster.

Nearly a week after the 7.3-magnitude earthquake, most businesses in Port Vila are still without internet and the communications network only supports local calls and text messages.

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