Air Vanuatu took delivery of its new 68-seat ATR 72-500 at Toulouse on October 8.
The aircraft, to be registered YJ-AV72, subsequently arrived in Cairns (registered F-WNUG) on October 12 from Kupang on its delivery flight to Port Vila.
It will be used on domestic and regional services, and will replace the airline’s existing ATR 42-300,YJ-AV42, which was withdrawn from service on August 21. The Traffic column in the November issue of Australian Aviation will report that on August 26 the ATR 42 departed Port Vila for Canada, where it was later reported at Vancouver on August 31.
Air Vanuatu also operates a 737-800.