On 31 July 2015 Air Vanuatu announced their order for a brand new Boeing 737-800 via Air Lease Corporation and due for delivery in January 2016.
As a result of the pending replacement, a new home was sought for the airline's Boeing 737-8Q8 YJ-AV1 and in preperation for its future operator the airliner flew its last service for Air Vanuatu on 14 November with it flying from Port Vila to Auckland as NF50 returning north as NF51. That same day it departed Port Vila for Shanghai via a techstop at Guam.
YJ-AV1 first flew on 18 December 2007 and was delivered to Vanuatu the following month arriving at Port Vila 16 January from Boeing Field via Honolulu and Nadi. It was then flown to Melbourne on 20 January for pre-service induction work and was flown to Brisbane 29 January before making its first commercial flight to Port Vila the same day. It then made its first visit to Auckland the following day.
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| Arriving at Auckland for the first time - 30 January 2008. Colin Hunter photo |
In the interim, Air Vanuatu have wet leased a Transavia Airways Boeing 737-8K2 PH-HSA and this airliner arrived at Port Vila 11 November from Singapore via Cairns and entered service from Port Vila to Sydney as NF10 on 15 November.
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| Departing Brisbane 17 November 2015, Lloyd Fox photo |
Its first Auckland visit was conducted 18 November on the scheduled NF50/51 service.
