By James Wilkinson

The rapid expansion of Pacific Blue in the South Pacific and Southeast Asia has continued with a third new destination announced in four weeks: the Solomon Islands.

The twice-weekly Brisbane-Honiara route, to commence December 2, comes on the back of new Brisbane-Port Moresby, Brisbane-Denpasar, Adelaide-Denpasar and Perth-Denpasar flights announced during September. They will take off in November (Port Moresby) and December (Denpasar), respectively.

The rapid expansion of Pacific Blue is continuing

Meanwhile, new direct flights between Melbourne-Auckland, Sydney-Auckland and Sydney-Port Vila, commencing in September (Melbourne) and October (Sydney) have been welcomed by South Pacific operators, particularly in Vanuatu — which has a key focus on the MICE market at present.

“There is a strong MICE market in Vanuatu and Pacific Blue has been instrumental in lifting the awareness of Vanuatu as a destination,” The Sebel Vanuatu general manager, Jeffery Branch, told SpiceNews.

“As a MICE destination, Vanuatu has a lot to offer – it’s only a 2.5 hour flight from Australia and New Zealand, there’s no visa required and there’s a range of leisure and team building activities to choose from.”