Solomon Airlines Schedule Changes - 16 February 2016

Honiara, Solomon Islands – Solomon Airlines has moved quickly to assist all passengers affected by the withdrawal of the airline’s flagship Airbus A320 from service on Sunday due to on-board electrical issues.

With the situation continuing into today (Tuesday, 16 February) Solomon Airlines has announced the following services will be operated by a Qantas Airways’  Boeing 737 aircraft as follows:

Flight IE 4711  departing SYD 1000 - arriving BNE 1025

Flight IE 4711  departing BNE 1115 - arriving HIR 1515

Flight IE 4710  departing HIR 1600 - arriving BNE 1800

Flight IE 4710  departing BNE 1850 - arriving SYD 2110

The circumstances surrounding the withdrawal of the Airbus from service unfolded on Sunday when the aircraft was withdrawn due to onboard electrical problems as the aircraft was preparing to fly 120 students on a special charter from Honiara to Nadi.

Solomon Airlines management moved quickly to obtain a Boeing B737 aircraft from its Melanesian codeshare partner Air Vanuatu to ensure the students were able to return home.

Air Vanuatu also assisted in ensuring Solomon Airlines’ passengers travelling on its scheduled services ex-Nadi and Port Vila to Honiara were able to complete their journeys.

The situation also forced the cancellation of the airline’s Sunday Honiara-Brisbane service which saw Solomon Airlines move to accommodate their passengers on an Air Nauru flight to ensure affected passengers were able to travel to Brisbane, in fact arriving only several hours behind the scheduled arrival time.

The ongoing situation leading into Monday also forced the airline to cancel its Brisbane-Honiara and Honiara – Sydney services, this being rectified with the assistance of codeshare partner Qantas Airways ensuring all affected passengers were able to complete their travel arrangements with as little disruption as possible.

With the situation continuing into today, Solomon Airlines has announced all services as outlined above will be operated by Qantas using a Boeing B737 aircraft.

In the meantime, the Solomon Airlines’ Airbus has been ferried to Brisbane where it is currently being inspected by engineers who have yet to isolate the issue,

Apologising to all customers affected by the situation, Solomon Airlines’ General Manager Operations and Commercial, Gus Kraus said the airline sincerely regretted the inconvenience experienced by its customers but passenger safety was paramount.

“We are working to ensure that all our passengers affected by this situation are uplifted to their destinations with as little disruption as possible,” Mr Kraus said.

“We have had a great run with our Airbus which has continued to stand out against our competitors and it is ironic that on the eve of the aircraft going to Singapore for its heavy maintenance planned program it goes unserviceable.

“We are continuing to do our utmost to alleviate this situation and pulling out all the stops to ensure that any disruption is minimal.”

Passengers seeking further information can contact the following:

Solomon Airlines Australian Office - telephone toll free on 1300 894311 or + 61 3860 5883.

Solomon Islands Travel Centre Honiara – telephone + 677 20152.

Released on behalf of Solomon Airlines by Mike Parker-Brown