The 36-seat Dash-8, Solomon Airlines’ largest domestic aircraft, has been offshore for an annual scheduled heavy maintenance check.
Following crew refresher training, and reinduction requirements, the aircraft will re-join the fleet from Monday 3 October to operate between Honiara and Munda, Gizo, Auki, and Kirakira, with additional destinations to be considered.
“The re-introduction of the Dash-8 will allow us to increase capacity significantly to Munda and Gizo, and to improve the efficiency of our operation,” said Solomon Airlines CEO Mr Gus Kraus.
“Under our new schedule from October, we have ensured that connectivity between our international and domestic flights is as seamless as it can be, especially for key tourism destinations Seghe, Munda, Gizo, Suavanao, and Marau,” Mr Kraus added.
“This will also improve access for inbound tourists travelling via our Brisbane and Nadi hubs,” he said.
“As we rebuild our operations, we will continue to monitor demand and assess our fleet to ensure that we manage costs and meet future demand as is appropriate,” he said.
The reintroduction of the Dash-8 aircraft has allowed Solomon Airlines to build an expanded domestic schedule, so existing passengers can expect some variations to upcoming flights, including:
Dash-8 aircraft will operate the majority of Honiara to Munda and Gizo services six days weeklyAuki flights to operate Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday (Monday & Wednesday by Dash-8)Kirakira flights to operate Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (Tuesday & Friday by Dash-8)Santa Ana flights will operate on Monday, instead of Tuesday under the previous scheduleSeghe flights will operate on Monday and FridayKagau flights will operate on Tuesday and FridayAtoifi flights will operate on Tuesday, instead of Wednesday under the previous scheduleBallalae flights will operate on Wednesday, instead of Tuesday under the previous scheduleParasi flights will operate on Thursday, instead of Friday under the previous scheduleManaoba flights will operate on Friday, instead of Monday under the previous scheduleFlights to Fera and Suavanao will operate as separate direct services every Friday, instead ofa combined service under the previous schedule
Other Solomon Airlines services may be affected by time changes under the new schedule. The airline will endeavour to contact all passengers on services with adjusted departure times.
For more information, visit www.flysolomons.com
Five airlines currently provide regular scheduled services into Honiara. Solomon Airlines, Virgin Australia, Fiji Airways (formerly Air Pacific), Air Niugini and Air Vanuatu all provide international flights to the Solomons. Qantas is a codeshare partner to Solomon Airlines.
There are direct flights connecting to Honiara from Brisbane (Australia), Nadi (Fiji), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) and Port Vila (Vanuatu).
The earliest date of known human habitation has been put at 1300-1000BC from carbon dating remains that were found in a cave on Guadalcanal.
Indigenous Solomon Islanders have their own origin stories, differing between tribes and islands but commonly indicating that they originated from within the islands rather than arriving from somewhere far away.
The first official European contact was the sighting by Spanish explorer Mendana in 1568. It is said that he named the country Isle de Solomon after the riches of King Solomon and the biblical land of gold. Mendana was followed by missionaries, traders, labour recruiters and colonial administrators from many countries in Europe and Asia.