13 Aug 2020

Ni-Vanuatu students find own way home from Samoa

3:43 pm on 13 August 2020

Six ni-Vanuatu students previously stranded in Samoa have organised their own transport back home.

The group chartered a Talofa Airlines flight and are expected to land at Bauerfield International Airport tomorrow.

Talofa Airways flight loading at Apia's Fagali'i Airport (closed).

The students have chartered a Talofa Airlines flight Photo: Dominic Godfrey / RNZ Pacific

The six students met the expenses of the charter and will pay for the cost of quarantining as well.

Vanuatu's Director of Public Health, Len Tarivonda, said although Samoa was a Covid-free country, the group would remain in quarantine for 14 days.

The students decided to charter their own aircraft following a delay in a second phase of repatriation.

On Monday the National Disaster Management Office put a hold on incoming Air Vanuatu flights until further notice.