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| Photo by Freeimages.com/Juan Santiago |
Solomon Airlines has resumed flights between Brisbane and Honiara, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. A 7 pm flight from Honiara International Airport was due to depart Wednesday for Brisbane.
Yesterday’s suspension of operations came about as a result of unpaid financial commitments by the Solomon Islands government, according to a Radio New Zealand report. Under a 2008 agreement, the government said it would match dollar for dollar the airline’s $6.7 million expansion plan.
“We believe the government owes us somewhere between $15 million and $18 million at the moment,” Gus Kraus, Solomon Airlines’ manager of commercial services, told Radio New Zealand. The lack of payment has led to the airline being unable to pay for maintenance on its newest and fastest aircraft, the Dash 8, which is currently in Australia, putting strain on the airline’s domestic pilots by forcing them to make longer and more frequent flights.
Read the Sydney Morning Herald story here, and keep visiting www.travelagentcentral.com for the latest air travel news.